Thieving Gets You Nowhere
by Aesura
Summary: AU Pickpocketing and stealing are the only things Naruto knows to survive in the busy streets of Konoha. But what happens when she stole a wallet from the wrong guy, namely Uchiha Sasuke! What does fate have in stored for these two? SasuFemNaru
1. Orphaned Girl

**Summary:** AU Pickpocketing and stealing are the only things Naruto knows to survive in the busy streets of Konoha. But what happens when she stole a wallet from the wrong guy, namely Uchiha Sasuke? What does fate have in stored for these two? SasuFemNaru

**Pairings:** SasuFemNaru, LeeSaku

**Warnings: **Language, Sexual terms, Violence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

* * *

**Thieving Gets You Nowhere**_  
by Aesura_

_**Orphaned Girl**_

* * *

Rain.

She always had hated the rain from almost as far back as she could remember. Maybe her hatred of the rain began thirteen years ago. Yes, that was probably the event that triggered her loathing of the life giving drops. For it had been raining the day the orphanage finally kicked her out, the day she had been scarred for life.

Shivering, the now seventeen year old Naruto stood beneath the awning of the small pawn shop located in the downtown area of the thriving metropolis. She loathed this city with a passion, but she knew deep down inside she would never be able to leave it. This was the only place where she could make her living doing the only thing she knew how. Pushing her short, choppy, and lank blonde bangs out of her face, she fingered the cash in her other hand, silently adding it to the little bit she had stashed away. Math seemed to be the only school subject she had ever found a use for. To put it short, her schooling was limited.

"Eighteen dollars," she muttered disgustedly as she rolled the three five-dollar and three one-dollar bills together and shoved them into the side pocket of her tattered khaki shorts. "Eighteen lousy dollars for that damn ring. And I thought the piece of shit would be worth at least fifty." Sighing, she realized that even with the thirteen she had in her other pocket it would not be enough. But, then again, she never had enough. Such was the way things went when you lived on the streets.

She turned as she heard the bell over the pawn shop door behind her ring only to find the large, burly owner glaring at her. "Look, girlie, if you don't have any business here, don't be standing here. You're scaring away my customers," he said in a low voice, putting a fake smile on his round, ruddy face as a potential patron walked past. As soon as the man had passed, the owner turned back to Naruto, glaring. "What are you still doing here? Now scram!"

"Bastard," she mumbled under her breath as she took a step out from under the awning and into the rain. Looking up, she saw the dark torrents of water falling relentlessly from the night sky, soaking her almost instantly to the bone. Her thin, tattered clothes did little to keep the moisture out and the cool, night air, considerably chillier because of the rain, soon caused her shivering to increase drastically.

With water running through her hair and down her face, she crossed her arms protectively over her chest and took off across the street, being narrowly missed by the approaching and seemingly never ceasing traffic of the city. She ignored the angrily honking horns and stepped onto the opposite sidewalk, thankful for the protection this block length awning provided from the rain.

Falling into the small crowd that had formed, she busily worked her way through them to start on her walk home, picking a few pockets as she went. A girl had to get by somehow, she had always reasoned, knowing that there wasn't much choice for someone like her, a street rat as she had been branded by countless people. Of course, she had plans for when she finally got enough money together.

She reached into her last pocket of the evening and pulled out the black leather wallet, slipping it into her own pocket with the other items she had stolen before someone noticed her holding onto it. The last thing she needed was a rain-soaked chase through the streets. She had no doubt that she could lose any pursuers within the maze of alleys the city provided, but she was simply too tired to want to go through the effort.

Feeling herself being watched, she quickly looked up and noticed dark obsidian eyes, glaring at her as the owner of said eyes tentatively reached into his back pocket.

"Shit," she muttered under her breath as she began sprinting at top speed and hoped to put enough distance between them that she would be able to lose him quickly.

"Hey, get back here!" the man called in a deep baritone, immediately starting after her and pushing through the crowds.

Naruto spared a quick glance over her shoulder to see that he was gaining on her, his legs pumping seemingly effortlessly. Obviously, he worked out, not the typical desk jockey she had taken him for.

"Perfect," she panted, increasing her pace and turning sharply to the right to cut through the alley. The man closely followed her into the alley, believing he had her cornered as he saw the high fence at the end of the alley. He bent over, his hands resting on his upper legs as he panted slightly.

"Now, give me back my wallet and I won't turn you into the cops," he finally said as he caught his breath, standing up straight and brushing the black bangs of his wet hair out of his eyes.

Deciding it might be in her best interest to play along for the moment to catch him off guard, Naruto looked at the ground in a sign of submission and put on her most repentant face. Yes, she had spent countless hours in front of department store windows practicing this face in the reflection.

"I'm sorry, mister," she muttered softly, her head still lowered but peaking through her blonde bangs to watch him. "But, this is the only way for me to get by. And what with my parents and five little brothers all being sick, it's up to me to get enough money together to pay for food." She briefly wondered if she was laying it on too thick, but quickly dismissed that thought as she saw a flicker of sympathy cross his face. As she watched, she could see his resolve slowly melting and he began to walk slowly down the alley towards her.

"Look, just give me the wallet. There's nothing in there, anyways," he said, this time a little more gently than he had previously. He reached his hand out slowly, as though she were some strange dog that might bite at any moment.

Suddenly, her head shot up, a large foxy grin coming across her face as she darted to the left and jumped on top of a large dumpster and then gracefully leaped onto the edge of the fence.

"You, my good friend, have been duped by The Great Uzumaki Naruto. Consider it a compliment," she called from her position before bounding to the other side of the fence and leaving him alone in the alley. Running, she could have sworn she heard the sound of something hitting the dumpster and then a loud string of curses.

"They're all the same," she muttered as she slowed to a trot and glanced over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being followed. "Every damn one of them."

A few quick turns to the left soon brought her to an abandoned warehouse, the one place she had actually lived for more than a month at a time since the orphanage kicked her out. The blonde haired girl wearily slipped through the broken window on the building's side and slowly climbed up the stairs to the attic where she kept her few belongings. The attic was the only place she truly felt safe.

A small overturned wooden crate served as a makeshift table and she immediately dumped the contents of her pockets onto it. Sorting through the items she had procured during her evening run, she set the wallets aside. She always did them last, telling herself she was saving the best for last.

But it was a lie.

The wallets rarely had more than twenty in cash and the credit cards were virtually useless to her unless she sold them, something she had yet to resort to. Usually, she would break the cards up and throw them in her trash pile. Shaking her head, she knew people would never believe she did that. After all, she was a thief. Little did most people know, but some thieves still had honour.

Honour.

She nearly scoffed at the word. It was her supposed honour that kept her living on the streets. In all her time as a thief, she had never stolen from anyone who looked as though they couldn't afford to lose a little cash. It was something she could never bring herself to do. She didn't know where her honour came from but she silently cursed whatever kamis had bestowed it upon her. She dearly wished to be like the other thieves she knew, those who had no remorse and were able to live better than she ever could with her honour.

Going back to the task at hand, she realized that most of the jewelry she had taken was worthless, most of it cheap imitations of the real thing. That only left the wallets. And it was just a small pile of wallets. She had only managed to pick up three before that man had discovered his was missing. Remembering his expression of shock when she had jumped onto the fence, she laughed softly. It was something she would have to remember for when she was feeling lower than usual.

She decided to save his wallet for last, grabbing a light tan coloured one and dumping its contents onto the crate. Sighing, she realized the man she had taken this from was only carrying around a couple dollars. The rest of his wallet was full of credit cards, receipts, and business cards. She set the credit cards aside to be disposed of before reaching for the next one.

This one was even less empty than the previous as it had no money, one credit card, a driver's license, and a slip of paper with a phone number. Biting her lip, she tossed the wallet over her shoulder in disgust and put her head in her hands. Tonight's salary was even less than she had hoped for.

But, there was still one wallet left. Picking up the faded black leather wallet, she briefly wondered why the man chasing her was so adamant about getting it back if it indeed had nothing in it like he said.

"He must've been lying, that son of a bitch," she whispered softly as she greedily unfolded the wallet and expected to find it full of cash. She dropped her head to the crate with a loud 'thud' when she realized that there was no cash in the wallet. Only his driver's license, two credit cards, and a few pictures.

Bored, she began to pick through the faded photos, noticing that nearly all of them had the same four people in them. One in particular sparked her interest. It was a typical family photograph: the father appeared strict and commanding while the mother smiled with kindness and love, a complete contrast to one another. There stood two other boys, the owner of the wallet looked like he was the younger of the two siblings. Another photograph was of the two brothers, the younger one smiling happily as he clung onto his brother's neck, the older one looking irritated at his sibling's antics.

"So this is why he wanted the wallet back?" Naruto asked herself, glancing over a few more of the pictures. "Just for these pictures?" Slipping them back into the wallet, she pulled out the driver's license and stared at his picture.

"Okay, teme, let's see what your name is." Naruto momentarily wondered why she was so curious about this man. Normally, she would never bother looking at the personal items in a wallet she had stolen. It put a face with one of her victims and usually made her guilt-ridden. But, something about this man drew her in. Something made her curious. She couldn't explain it. Reading his name aloud, she frowned. "Uchiha Sasuke? ..Now where have I heard that name before?"

Giving up on the enigma that was this Uchiha Sasuke, she put all his stuff back into the wallet and closed it. Unlike with most other wallets, she found herself unable to throw this one away. Maybe it was because she was intrigued by how much these pictures apparently meant to him. Or maybe she was just getting sentimental as she grew older. She didn't know. Nor did she care.

She stood up slowly, finding herself still shivering slightly from her wet attire. Crossing the room, she pulled out the ugly orange jacket she had found only a month before and slipped it around her body. It had indeed been a lucky day when she had come across this jacket. Very rarely did she ever find anything worth keeping in the local dumpsters. She usually had to rely upon stealing things from unattended clotheslines, which were few and far between in the city.

Her eyes drooping as fatigue hit her, she lay down upon the pallet she had made from anything soft she could find and pulled the tattered blanket around her. Ignoring her rumbling stomach with practiced ease, she soon found herself in her nightmarish world of slumber. Most people had the luxury of having good dreams. But, not Naruto. In her dreams, she always relived her past. More specifically, she always watched her brutal assault over and over again…

...

"_Get out of here, you damn monster! GET OUT AND NEVER COME BACK!"_

_The orphan owner's words still rang through __a four year old Naruto's ears as she felt the sudden heavy rain pour colliding onto her tan skin. She turned around, only to see the door, the place where she spent the four years of her life, rejected her like all the other people she knew. She godlily stood up, the ache from the violent toss in her being slowly subsiding, not that she cared anymore._

_What's a little girl to do, with no parents, no family, and now no home (if you can call that place a home)? She didn't even know why she got kicked out. It wasn't her fault. The other kids burned down the kitchen, not her. But, like always, the caretaker sides with them instead of her._

_Why did they always bully her around? She tried being nice to them, tried to be their friend, but they always glared at her with those icy glowering eyes. Is it because of her scarred cheeks? Is it because of her dirty clothes? She didn't know…_

_With no where to go, she clutched the small stuffed fox more tightly in her arms for comfort, now trudging along the streets of Konoha. She was kind of glad that it was raining. Nobody could see the tears streaming down her face._

"_It's raining so hard.. I can't see anything…" Naruto mumbled to herself, turning blindly to a narrow passageway, only to be knocked down to the ground by a hulking figure several seconds later. She gazed up to see an annoyed man swaying a bit, holding a paper bag that's shaped like a glass bottle. With bloodshot eyes, he looked down at her, slurring as he said, __"Oi! Watch where you're going, you fag!"_

_Standing up again, Naruto lowered her head so she wouldn't come eye-to-eye with the imitating stranger. "I'm sorry…"_

_She was about to turn around and leave the alleyway, until a rough hand spun her around, __grabbing her shirt, slamming her against the brick wall. Naruto cried out in pain, seeing white stars in front of her line of vision. With difficulty, she cracked her eyes open, only to be sent craning back as a fist crashed directly onto the side of her face. The abrupt assault knocked out all the air out of her lungs, making her released the stuffed animal she was holding. Naruto felt a large purple bruise already forming around her cheekbone, tasting a coppery flavor in her mouth._

_The man, still having a firm grip on her, leaned forward, whispering threateningly into her ear, "I don't like that tone, bitch."_

_Naruto yelped in agony as he tightened his hold on her, severely cutting her breathing. Hearing her pain, he chuckled. "It's not very lucky for you that I'm pissed off as hell right now." Naruto had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach._

"_And I really need to release my anger..."_

_In slow motion it seemed, Naruto watched in terror as her attacker reached into his pocket, pulling out a switchblade and aimed it at her. Her blue eyes widened in fear. 'No, NO! I don't want to die!'_

_He lifted up his weapon, sending it crashing down on her heart. But just in time, Naruto put her arms up in defense against the blow. A sharp searing pain bubbled up where her arm was, earning a piercing cry from the injured girl. But nobody heard her cries of help, no one but her and her assailant. No one was going to save her…_

_A warm liquid trickled down her arm, making soft 'plops' on the pavement, only to be washed away in a matter of seconds. Realization suddenly dawned on her. Blood. Her blood. She was bleeding._

_Still drunk, the man wrenched his knife out of Naruto's arm with a grunt, receiving an anguishing scream from his victim. "Damn bitch. Now I'm going to make you wish that you were dead."_

_She couldn't stop what was coming next. The cursing. The slashing. The.. blood. Yes, the blood. It was like someone was watching this gruesome scene, keeping on rewinding over and over again. She pray this was all just a dream, a horrible, horrible dream. That she'll wake up in the orphanage and continued her dreary life like always. But, no. Every scream, every bruise she'd taken serves as a painful reminder that this is all real, that she wasn't dead. Well, at least she thinks not yet. Besides, heaven can't be this agonizing. _

_Abruptly, the beating stopped, the knife backed off. Was the deed done? Was she now in heaven? Her limp body stayed levitated in the air, but she felt like she's moving, …gliding. Yes, this has to be heaven, waiting for her to fly up to its distilled sanctuary and be welcomed with open arms. But, all she felt was being thrown ruthlessly into a pile of putrid remains of spoiled food and crumbled paper. Like a rag doll… a sad broken rag doll. The lid slammed shut above her, cutting off any reminisce of light still available. Heaven was so far out of her reach… _

_Naruto didn't know how long she'd stayed bleeding in the dumpster. All she remembered was waking up, noticing all her cuts were dried as she stumbled out of her odorous bed, staggering as she walked over and picked up her stuffed fox…her only friend. Making her way between a few abandoned crates, she squeezed in between them, slumbering off until her weariness fades away._

_..._

Jolting awake, Naruto sat up on her makeshift bed and drew her knees up so she could wrap her arms tightly around her legs. She gently rocked back and forth in the bed as the memory of her near-death experience replayed again in her mind. Nervously, she inspected her arm, seeing nothing but grime on her smooth skin.

"…It's so weird… There's no wound… anymore…but…" She placed her arm on her cheek, silent tears flowing down her face. "It still hurts.. so much…"

Beginning to shiver, she realized that not only was she covered in the sweat that normally accompanied her nightmares but also that her clothing was still soaked from the rain earlier. A drop of water falling on top of her head caused her to look up and grimace when she realized that the roof was beginning to leak.

"Perfect," she muttered, slowly standing up and dragging her pallet across the dusty floor to the other side of the room. This was the fourth leak in the past week her 'home' had developed and if they kept showing up, she knew she would have to find another place to stay.

Climbing back onto the bed, she dug around in her various threadbare blankets until she found what she was looking for: an old bedraggled stuffed fox, nearly falling apart at the seams. Its once fluffy orange fur had become a flat, matted mess and it stared lifelessly at its owner through one lone button eye that was barely hanging on by a mere thread. Naruto hugged the fox to her chest and lay down upon her bed, soundless tears welling up in her eyes before spilling their dams and streaming down her whiskered-marked cheeks yet again.

"Goodnight, Kyuu," she whispered to the fox, ignoring the chiding voice in the back of her mind that told her she was too old for stuffed animals. Another violent shiver racked her frame and she curled herself into a fetal position, pulling the blankets tighter around herself and praying to whatever kamis would listen for a dreamless sleep for once.


	2. Sick Little Kitsune

**Summary:** AU Pickpocketing and stealing are the only things Naruto knows to survive in the busy streets of Konoha. But what happens when she stole a wallet from the wrong guy, namely Uchiha Sasuke? What does fate have in stored for these two? SasuFemNaru

**Pairings:** SasuFemNaru, LeeSaku

**Warnings: **Language, Sexual terms, Violence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

* * *

**Thieving Gets You Nowhere**_  
by Aesura_

_**Sick Little Kitsune**_

* * *

Covering her mouth as another hacking cough erupted from her lungs, Naruto stumbled down the crowded sidewalk. Her feverish eyes began to burn and she rubbed them with the sleeve of her orange jacket, struggling not to fall as she swayed to the left. As she leaned into something, she felt rough hands shove her away and heard a disgusted voice telling her to watch where she was going. Closing her eyes momentarily, she regained her balance and began her trek down the block once more, ignoring the prickling feeling in her skin. It felt as though tiny needles were simultaneously digging their way into her flesh.

Even with the sun glaring down upon her back, shivers still raced through her body. And while those around her were shedding their jackets in the warm September weather, Naruto wrapped her jacket around her even tighter and wished she had been able to find a pair of pants instead of the shorts she wore. Her head lowered and nearly buried in the collar of her jacket, she wished she could just curl up in her bed and try to sleep. But, given the fact that she had been unable to find a victim that met her standards since a few nights before and the fact that she had splurged this morning when she bought that cup of coffee from the gas station, she really needed to grab at least one wallet today.

Lifting her head, she spotted a suitable victim. The man wore a pinstriped blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up and carried his designer jacket on his left arm. On his right wrist, Naruto spotted a gleaming gold watch that signified, in her mind, that he would be able to spare a little cash. Casually strolling up to him, she carefully reached into his back pocket and pulled out the leather wallet only to sneeze right as she was placing it into her own pocket. The man turned, giving her a disgusted sneer that turned to an enraged scowl as he eyed his wallet still in her hand.

"Shit," Naruto muttered quickly before taking a deep breath in her aching lungs and began to run down the street. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed the man was quickly gaining on her and she silently cursed the illness that had caused her to become so weak. Her legs ached more with each stride and her stomach began to churn, nearly causing her to stop and vomit right then. But, choking down on the bile rising in her throat, she forced herself to go on.

She turned to the left and stopped suddenly, blinking when she realized that this was the same alley where she had escaped the black haired man only a few nights before. Gasping for air, she turned to see her most recent victim confidently striding up the alley, throwing his jacket to the side where it landed atop a few wooden crates. Naruto slowly backed up to the end of the alley, clutching her violently churning stomach while she silently calculated her best course of action. One look at this man's face told her that any lies she could come up with would be proved useless.

Finding her back pressed against the back fence, she began to slide across to the dumpster, planning on escaping like she had earlier. Just as she was about to jump, a sudden wave of dizziness hit her and caused her to fall back against the fence and sink to the ground, her eyes clenched shut.

"Well, well," the man began, his slick voice seeming to drip oil as he spoke. "Looks like you've no where to go, bitch." He continued to steadily approach her, his bright green eyes narrowing as he watched her squirm under his gaze. Naruto flinched at what he called her, the word bringing back unpleasant memories.

She reached into the pocket where she had stuffed his wallet and shakily held out her hand to give it back to him. "Please don't turn me into the cops, mister," she pleaded, her head and stomach ganging up on her and causing her vision to swim. When she realized he wasn't going to take his wallet back, she scooted over to where she was in the narrow space between the dumpster and the fence.

Eyeing her, the man licked his lips and casually pushed her hand holding the wallet away from him. "Since you're so intent on getting my money, perhaps you should do something to earn it," he said lecherously, beginning to unbuckle his belt. "And then I won't turn you into the cops."

Her eyes widening in shock and fear, Naruto lurched to her feet and frantically began trying to climb atop the dumpster. Hundreds of thoughts flew through her head, most of them involving her being raped in broad daylight in this crowded city and no one coming to save her. Just like before…

After all, she was only a street rat, vermin, worthless, …monster.. like she had been told her whole life. And even if the man killed her after he had his way with her, no one would care. It would only be one less person in this already overcrowded metropolis.

_In slow motion it seemed, Naruto watched in terror as her attacker reached into his pocket, pulling out a switchblade and aimed it at her. Her blue eyes widened in fear. 'No, NO! I don't want to die!'_

A hand grasped her calf just as she reached the top of the dumpster and dragged her back down to the ground. A scream pierced the air and she looked around in shock, only realizing it was her own scream when her victim-turned-assailant clamped his hand down over her mouth.

"Now, listen, bitch," he spat at her, his hand on her mouth pushing down so hard that her teeth cut into her lips. "We can do this the easy way or we can do it the hard way. Your choice."

Her cerulean eyes wide with fright darted around the alley, looking for anything to help her. But somewhere in the back of her mind, she was silently telling herself to just kick his ass. Feeling lightheaded or not, she wasn't going to let this man take advantage of her like she's some cheap knock-up whore!

Anger began rising from the pit of her stomach, both from her stubbornness and the thought of what was about to happen to her. Struggling a bit so that her mouth was partially free, she bit down on his hand with enough pressure to draw blood. Letting out a painful shout, the man ripped his hand from her mouth and then immediately started cursing as his blood splattered on his blue pinstriped shirt. "You bitch!" he bellowed, raising his hand to slap her.

In fear, Naruto cringed, expecting the blow to come but never feeling it. Instead, she heard the loud 'smack' as something else was struck, then her assailant's loud groan of pain. Opening her eyes, she saw the man she recognized as Uchiha Sasuke from his driver's license leaning over her now unconscious attacker.

Too weak to run, Naruto shakily sank to the ground, her eyes closed tightly as she awaited the attack she was sure to come from her rescuer. After all, she had robbed him and lied to him only a few nights before. He had probably only saved her so he could have the pleasure of raping her himself. A dark shadow fell over her and she wearily opened her eyes, staring up into his intense onyx ones.

"Please," she whispered, unable to get her voice to work as another coughing fit set in. _"..Don't…" _Naruto hated feeling weak, especially in front of a complete stranger, but her throbbing headache was proving her resistance futile.

Sasuke kneeled down in front of her, eyeing the blood gradually sliding down the side of her mouth with disgust. Taking his eyes off of that, he finally got a good look at her and recognized her as the girl who had taken his wallet a few nights before.

"Naruto, right?" he asked, sighing as he remembered her parting words as she jumped this very fence. Naruto mutely nodded, slowly pushing herself to her feet and using the wall behind her to help steady herself.

"I... I... still have your wallet," she stammered, pushing herself off the wall and gently pushing past him. "Follow me and I'll give it back." Wrapping her arms tightly around herself as another shivering fit set in, she looked over her shoulder to see if he was following her. Indeed he was. In fact, he was watching her with hawk eyes it seemed to make sure she wasn't going to try to escape again.

Quickening his pace, Sasuke began to walk beside her, his strides matching hers. "What happened back there?" he finally inquired, giving her a questioning glance as they passed through the crowds of people, who were, no doubt, on their lunch breaks.

"Oh, _that_." She took a deep breath, ignoring the wheezing sound her lungs made as she did so. "I happened to pick the pocket of the wrong person this time," she stated nonchalantly, lowering her gaze to the ground.

"I seem to be losing my touch." Her stomach turned against her, causing her to pause mid-step and try to keep the nausea down to minimum. She noticed the few disgusted glares she was receiving from passersby who discerned the blood stain on her face. Wiping it off with the overly long sleeve of her jacket, she continued trekking to her destination, ignoring the rest of the glares she's receiving. She was used to glares like that. Those icy, cold glares…

"Maybe you should get a new profession then," her companion of the moment suggested sarcastically, snapping her out of her reverie. He now stood in front of her with his arms crossed and his head slightly lowered to meet her eyes so that his black bangs fell across his eyes as he glared at her.

Naruto had to halt abruptly so she wouldn't bump into him, swallowing the lump in her throat when she looked up at his ebony stare. Taking a deep breath to clear her head, Naruto glowered the man down, though probably not doing such a good job at it.

"Look," she said calmly. "You don't know me. You don't know what happened to me. You don't care what will happen to me. So let's just go get your wallet so you can get back to your life and I can get back to mine." She began stomping off, not waiting for him to join her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him trot up to her side. At the same time, she sniffled loudly as her nose began to run and then groaned as it started to stop up, forcing her to begin breathing through her mouth. Why was it that fevers seemed to just jump you all at once? One minute, you can be breathing fine and the next, it feels like you have a brick wall blocking your nasal passages. "You're sick, aren't you?" the man beside her asked.

"Gee, what gave it away?" she asked sarcastically, her voice coming out slightly nasal.

"Maybe you should see a doctor about it."

She turned to glare at him, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Look, genius, I don't need to see the doctor. I'll be fine in a couple of days." Bringing her eyes back to what lay before her, she muttered, "Besides, what would I pay him with? I don't think they'll accept IOU's."

They walked in silence the rest of the way to her warehouse, and Sasuke eyed her curiously as she began to crawl through broken window that served as her door. He continued to stare until she finally beckoned him in. Carefully avoiding the broken glass, he managed to make it through the opening without tearing either his clothes or his skin only to find himself inside a dusty room. Curling his lip in disgust, he followed her up the stairs as she shakily climbed them, pausing as she coughed a few times. Finally reaching the attic, Naruto gestured over to her makeshift table where his wallet still lay.

"Everything's still inside it." She watched in slight amusement as he obviously didn't believe her and began to flip through the few things which it contained. Seeing his satisfied smirk as he placed it into his back pocket, she quickly sat down upon her bed as a wave of dizziness swept over her. "Now, I hope you don't mind me not escorting you out, but I'm feeling a little dizzy and I don't think I can make the stairs again."

Sasuke stepped over to her and placed a hand flat against her forehead. Surprised by the sudden action, Naruto leaned back slightly, going stiff. A blush spread across her already rosy cheeks, and for once she was glad that she had a fever.

"You're burning up," he hissed, taking a closer look at her feverish eyes. "You really should get to the doctor or a hospital or something."

Black eyes locked with blue.

Her eyesight became hazy. Sasuke became a huge blur.

"I told you before, I don't need to see the doctor and there is no way in hell I'm going to the hospital," she muttered tiredly as she fought down her embarrassment, clenching her eyes shut as the dizziness grew and was soon joined by a pounding headache. Her eyes jerked open when she felt arms go around her and pick her up.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Blood pulsed in her head.

"I'm taking you to the hospital. You're sick."

Everything was so loud…

Even in her condition, Naruto was in fact putting up a fight. Kicking and screaming with all her might, she tried to get out of his grasp, screaming incoherently about hospitals killing people like her. But, Sasuke didn't try to suppress her protests. It was only a matter of time before the fever kicked right in.

And it did. Naruto's chest began to heave with the effort she put in her struggle and the dizziness behind her eyes was becoming dreadful. The headache in the back of her head grew painfully until, thankfully, she blacked out and fell limply in his arms.

* * *

Warmth.

That was the first thing Naruto felt as she slowly began to wake up. And then the aroma of chicken soup assaulted her senses, sending her back nearly fourteen years to the time the orphanage fed her and the rest of the children warm chicken noodle soup in the dead of winter. Smiling, Naruto snuggled deeper into the fuzzy blanket before her other senses kicked in and she realized the orphanage kicked her out.

Bolting upright, she placed a hand across her forehead as a wave of dizziness crashed down on her from sitting up too quickly. So, closing her eyes, she tried to think about what had happened and where she was. The last thing she remembered was being in her warehouse and the man she knew as Uchiha Sasuke trying to take her to the hospital.

She slowly opened her eyes, squinting as the lights in the room hurt her feverish eyes and looked around. She found herself on one of those corner sofas she had seen in furniture store windows, and in a rather large room decorated in different shades of blue and dark cherry wood antique furniture. Feeling her stomach begin to twist into knots, Naruto sat down upon the couch, trying to keep the room from spinning.

"Oi! You okay?" The speaker walked into the room shirtless, grabbing a shirt that was slung over a wooden chair, slipping it on as he buttoned hastily. "So, you're awake now?"

"Yeah, I'm awake... I think..." Naruto mumbled as she watched him finish buttoning his shirt and straightening the collar. Remembering reading his age on his driver's license, she blushed for the second time today. He was a few months older than her… and she had seen him half-naked…

"_For a teme, he looks pretty good..."_ she silently mused, finally averting her eyes and staring at the edge of the blue blanket she was wrapped in. "So, where am I?"

Sasuke momentarily gave her a bemused look, running his hands through his slightly damp hair and making Naruto believe he had just gotten out of the shower when she woke up. "My apartment," he finally answered, sitting down on the small sofa across from her.

"Okay... _why_ am I here?" she asked, covering her mouth as a hacking coughing fit came over her. That finally passed, she looked at with him with slightly watery eyes and awaited his answer. She noticed her stomach had begun churning again in just the short time she had been awake and it was threatening to spew all its contents across his floor. So, groaning a little, she lay back down on the couch and lightly placed an arm across her stomach.

"Because you wouldn't let me take you to the doctor or to the hospital. I couldn't just leave you out there. You're sick," he explained, rising to his feet and leaving the room. Naruto followed him with her eyes and watched him what appeared to be a kitchen. She could just barely make out the stainless steel refrigerator from her position.

Sasuke emerged a few moments later carrying a tray with a bowl of steaming hot something on it and a small mug of steaming hot something else. Naruto couldn't tell what it was, as she was still lying down on the couch, but she could see the curling tendrils of steam rising in the air and the aromas emanating from them were tantalizing her senses. Turning her head to the side so she could get a better look, she watched him set the tray down upon the coffee table and walk across the room, only to come back with a wooden TV tray.

"Here, you need to try and eat something," he muttered, setting the stand up and placing the bowl and mug upon it, soon followed by an ornate spoon and cloth napkin.

Sitting up slowly so her dizziness wouldn't return, Naruto scooted to the edge of the sofa and looked down at the tray. Her eyes first fell upon the bowl of soup, so picking up the spoon, she took a few slow bites, hoping her stomach wouldn't revolt on her. After the first few bites, she paused, then hesitantly reached for the mug of what appeared to be tea and took a sip. "I didn't know canned soup could taste so good," she said after a few more bites.

While she had been busy with her own soup, her host had gone to sat across from her and watched as she finished off her soup. "It isn't from a can. It's homemade," he explained, rising to take her empty bowl and mug back to the kitchen.

"You made this?" she asked incredulously, her stomach feeling better now that it had something in it and her sinuses beginning to clear from the steam that had wafted to her nostrils. She sneezed suddenly and found Sasuke passing a box of tissues over to her.

"Thanks," she mumbled, in shock that not only someone had brought her in, but was also taking the time to feed her. Nodding, Sasuke couldn't help but show some pride in his culinary skills, reveling in the fact that she enjoyed his cooking. He watched as she continued to sneeze for a few minutes and then begin sniffling.

"A hot bath will help clear your head," he stated, standing up from the couch and beginning to walk down the hall. Looking back, he noticed she was still sitting on the couch. "Come on. I'll find you some clean clothes to wear and show you were the bathroom is."

"Okay... I guess..." she muttered, slowly rising to her feet and unwrapping herself from the blanket. For the first time since she woke up, she realized that she was no longer wearing her jacket, but just her thin black t-shirt that she wore under it. "Um... where's my jacket?"

"It's in the dryer. I had to wash it because... well.. it had blood on it," he explained, beckoning her into a bedroom. He walked over to the closet, opening it and began to rifle through the clothes until he found what he was looking for: a faded blue shirt with the Uchiha fan design on the back, its wide collar circling the head opening, and a pair of white shorts.

"I know they're too big for you, but they'll have to do for now." He handed them to her and then ushered her to the bathroom across the hall.

Stepping into the bathroom she looked around and was taken aback by the luxurious landscape. A marble tub laid to the right of the spacious retreat, its wide oval shape sculpted from the finest work of architects. Elegantly adjacent to the bathtub, a shower rested nuzzled in between the neutral walls, its sterling crystal knobs laid yet untouched. Two sinks, along with a full width mirror stood in front of her, its exquisite designs unparalleled to anything she seen before. Just how rich is this guy anyway? While she was busy taking all this in, she didn't realize that he was telling her where all the towels, wash clothes, and soaps were.

"...and the shampoo is sitting on the edge of the bathtub. If you need anything—" Sasuke was cut off when Naruto interrupted him.

"Are you the only one that lives here?" she asked quietly, her brows furrowed in confusion as she looked at him.

Equal confusion played across his face. "Yes... why?"

"'Cause... I thought... Never mind... it was just a random thought that popped into my head."

"_I guess he moved out from his parents place." _She watched him give her an odd stare and then leave her alone in the spacious bathroom, shutting the door as he left.

Relieving herself from her thoughts, she turned on the hot water, letting it heat up before she slowly added the cooler water to make the bath as hot as she could stand it. Peeling off her clothes, she grabbed a wash cloth from the cabinet Sasuke had pointed out and then slowly lowered herself into the water. A loud, drawn-out sigh escaped her lips at the feel of the warm water caressing her flesh. She could hardly remember the last time she had had an actual bath and not just sponging herself off at some restroom in a gas station. Leaning back, she lay her head against the back of the tub and allowed herself to relax, breathing the rising steam in as it helped to clear her head.

"A few more minutes of this, and I'll be asleep," she mumbled under her breath as she shook her head in an attempt to wake herself up. Sighing, she began to scrub herself, beginning with her lanky mop of hair. It had been a few weeks since she had swiped a bottle of shampoo and washed her hair in the store's restroom.

A loud banging on the door and Sasuke's voice calling to her pulled her out of the reverie she had fallen into. "Are you still alive in there? Or did you drown?" he called through the door.

Finding her voice, she answered him. "I'm fine. I'll be out in a minute." She hadn't realized how long she had been in the bath until he had checked on her. The once steaming water had cooled down considerably and was actually on the verge of being cold. So, quickly rinsing off the soap to reveal now clean skin, she stepped out of the tub and began to dry herself with one of the large, fluffy bath towels he had provided.

Wrapped in the towel, she looked at herself in the mirror and was shocked to find that she appeared to be an almost completely different person. Her hair, though still wet, looked considerably better than it had earlier, and her once dirt stained skin was now of a lightly tanned tone. "My protective layer of crud is gone..." she mused as she continued to stare at her reflection.

She pulled on the shorts and then the blue shirt, noticing a slight but distinct masculine smell coming from the shirt. Without realizing it, she took another whiff of the shirt before she shook her head and rolled her eyes at herself in the mirror. "It's just because I'm sick," she quietly reassured herself as she left the room to rejoin her host.

Walking out, she heard muffled voices in the living room. One she recognized as Sasuke's and the other was of a comforting sisterly quality, soothing in its sound. She stood hesitantly in the living room doorway and took a good look at the people in there before they could see her. Sitting on the edge of the sofa was a woman of about eighteen years with the brightest green eyes Naruto had ever seen. Her short pink hair cascaded around her shoulders, contrasting nicely with the red sleeveless shirt she wore over her white skirt.

Sensing she was being stared at, the woman looked up and smiled when she saw Naruto. "It's good to see you're up and about. When I was here earlier, you were still out like a rock," she said cheerfully, standing up and walking over to the younger teenager, her hand outstretched in greeting and a bright smile playing across her face. "Sasuke-kun tells me your name is Naruto. I'm Haruno Sakura."

Naruto hesitantly shook the her hand, giving her a weak smile in return. "It's nice to meet you... Sakura-chan..." she said quietly, covering her mouth as another coughing fit came upon her. As she coughed, the oversized blue shirt she was wearing slipped slightly down her shoulders. She quickly grabbed it and pulled it back straight, but not before Sakura had noticed.

"What is she doing in these clothes, Sasuke-kun?" she called to the man as her and Naruto walked back across the room. She gestured for the teenager to sit down and then took her own seat beside her on the sofa. "These are way too big for her."

Naruto watched as the man she thought of as Sasuke ran a hand through his hair and sighed, giving Sakura a slightly annoyed look. "Sakura, I don't normally keep women's clothing on hand, you know."

"These are okay. Really they are," Naruto interjected, wondering why they were so concerned over what she wore. "And as soon as my other clothes are clean, I'll put them back on and be on my way. You've done too much already." She began coughing again, which was soon followed by a round of sneezes and sniffles, causing Sakura to give her a worried look.

"Nonsense. You have to at least stay until you're well. I'm sure Sasuke-kun won't mind you staying, _will you Sasuke-kun_?" Sakura asked, although her tone suggested that he had better not answer in the negative. She turned her head towards Sasuke, shooting him a smiling sadist look, sending shivers down his and Naruto's spine. The blonde gulped down the lump in her throat at the murderous atmosphere that suddenly engulfed the room. She doesn't want to get on her bad side, that's for sure.

Not waiting for his answer, she arose and started for the door. The tense ambiance disappeared as soon as it started as Sakura whirled around with her hands behind her back to face the newcomer, a cheerful smile on her face. "I'll be back in a little bit with some clothes for you to borrow, Naruto. You can't keep wearing those."

Sakura walked out the door, leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone in his apartment. Finally, Naruto spoke up. "I don't have any money to repay you," she whispered ashamedly, lowering her head and looking at her feet.

"I don't want your money," he answered simply, picking up the mug of tea from the coffee table in front of him and taking a drink.

Gulping, Naruto raised her head. "I see..." She closed her eyes and then opened them slowly to stare into the abyss depths of his eyes.

"Well, I... I've never done this before... so... please be gentle..." She trailed off, a heavy blush coming across her cheeks even though she always knew it would come to this eventually. She had just been hoping it wouldn't be so soon that she would have to offer herself to someone.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked in confusion, his brows furrowed as he looked at her.

"You know... so... uh... do you want to head for the bedroom or... uh... should we just go at it here?"

Tea spewed across the room, some of it landing on her as the man in front of her began to choke, coughing a few times to get the tea out of his windpipe. "WHAT?"

"Well, you said you didn't want my money... what other reason would you've brought me here?" She wiped the tea off her face with the backside of her hand, the blush still present on her face. "I mean, myself is the only other thing I have to offer..."

Sasuke stood up and began pacing nervously, giving her strange looks occasionally. "I thought we already went over this. I brought you here because you are sick. I didn't bring you here so I could quote 'have my way with you.' Understand?" By now, he had stopped pacing and was staring at her with his unyielding obsidian gaze.

"Hai," she mumbled quietly, feeling ashamed of herself for misunderstanding his obvious good intentions. "I... I... I'm sorry."

A knock on the door interrupted their stilted conversation and Sasuke left her to answer the door, revealing Sakura with an armload of clothes. "I found these in the closet. I think they'll fit. At least, they'll fit better than what you have on," she explained as she pushed the clothes into Naruto's arms. "Here, go change. Wait..." She gave the teenager a worried look. "You seem to be a little more flushed than you were earlier. How are you feeling?"

"It's just the fever," Naruto lied, sparing a glance to look at the man behind Sakura. "I'm fine... don't worry about me." She slowly arose from the sofa and walked towards the hall with the clothing, but stopped at the hall's entrance. "Thank you... for everything."

Sakura watched the girl leave the room then turned to Sasuke. "She cleans up good, doesn't she?" she commented happily.

"Yeah, I guess she does," Sasuke answered softly.

* * *

**Thank you to those who have not given up on me or this story. **

**ALso, there's a 2/3 chance that I'm cutting out Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. Also less police scenes. Sorry all, but the end will come a lot faster with these elements out. Hope you understand.**


	3. Secrets of the Past

**Summary:** AU Pickpocketing and stealing are the only things Naruto knows to survive in the busy streets of Konoha. But what happens when she stole a wallet from the wrong guy, namely Uchiha Sasuke? What does fate have in stored for these two? SasuFemNaru

**Pairings:** SasuFemNaru, LeeSaku

**Warnings: **Language, Sexual terms, Violence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

* * *

**Thieving Gets You Nowhere**_  
by Aesura_

_**Secrets of the Past**_

* * *

Lying stretched out on the smaller sofa he possessed, Sasuke mindlessly flipped through the channels on the television set, his eyes wandering every few minutes to the sleeping girl wrapped in blankets on the other sofa in his living room. She had been there for less than ten hours and had spent about eight of those ten hours passed out on his sofa. Staring at her face, he noticed how her cheeks seemed to be slightly sunken in and her eyes had a hollow quality to them, enhanced by the dark rings around her eyes.

He watched as she scrunched her face up at something and rolled back over, clutching the tattered fox he had brought with her from the warehouse. The look of surprise and gratitude etched on her face when he had pulled that ragged stuffed animal from the dryer and handed it to her still haunted his mind.

A soft knock on the door brought him out of his reverie and quickly got him on his feet before the knocking awoke Naruto. Just one look at her and he could see how much she needed her sleep. It looked as though she hadn't had a good night's sleep in years. So, quietly crossing the room, he eased the door open to reveal Sakura once again.

"Yes?" he asked, raising his eyebrows and giving her a questioning look. After all, it was fairly late for her to be up considering the fact that it was after eleven and she had to be at the hospital for her shift fairly early.

"Here. I know you wouldn't think of them, so I went down to the drugstore and picked some up," she whispered as she handed him a box of medicine before pushing past him and walking into the living room.

She let out an annoyed sigh and placed her hand on her brow before turning to stare at him. "Sasuke-kun, are you just going to keep her on the couch or are you going to let her have an actual bed?"

He ran a hand through his hair, pushing the bangs out of his eyes as he stared at the girl on the couch. "Well, I thought that since she was already asleep she would be fine there," he muttered, unable to meet his friend's green eyes as they bored into his skull as if he were the stupidest man alive.

"She'll fall right back to sleep. Believe me, she will. I mean, look at her. At this point, nothing could keep her awake," Sakura said softly, gesturing towards the sleeping Naruto with one hand.

"Look, I'll go put some fresh sheets on your spare room bed. And I'll need you to carry her in there when I'm done, okay?" She waited for his nod before she left the room and headed down the hall.

Once he heard the room's door creaked open, Sasuke then turned his attention back to the slumbering figure. He noticed the way her slightly fingers twitched every time she moved her head, the way her eyelashes slightly fluttered when a mild breeze from the air conditioner blew in her direction. Funny that he detected these simplest of movements of a person he barely knew. And her cheeks… they had the strangest markings on them, three whisker-like lines etched out on both cheeks.

"I wonder how she got them…" he wondered to himself, lifting his hand to touch the markings, wanting to know if they're real or not.

"Okay, Sasuke-kun. Bring her in," Sakura called from the doorway of the spare room, stopping him his actions.

Sighing, Sasuke carefully picked the girl up in his arms, once again surprised at how light she really was. Somehow, she managed to stay sleeping while he carried her, breathing through her mouth as her nose was too stopped up. About halfway down the hall, she squirmed slightly and began to whimper as she turned to bury her head in his shirt. Not knowing what else to do, Sasuke slowly rubbed her back with hand, mumbling 'shh' as he continued to what would be her room while she was there.

Sakura stepped out of the way to let Sasuke past her and into the room, pulling back the blankets on the bed for him to set her down. Seeing what the girl was wearing, she let out a sigh.

"Sasuke-kun, go get her one of your shirts to sleep in, okay? Those clothes can't be comfortable for her," she said, using the commanding tone he had heard many times before from her. She always seemed to use it when someone was sick or needing help.

He returned a few moments later with a white dress shirt from his closet. He handed it to the woman and then leaned against the wall. That is, until Sakura gave him a pointed stare. "What?"

"Are you just going to stand there while I change her clothes or are you going to leave the room? I'm sure she doesn't want some man she barely knows seeing her half naked," Sakura scolded as she walked over and physically pushed Sasuke out of the room, closing the door in his face.

Rubbing the growing bruise on his shoulder blade from Sakura's strong shove, Sasuke went back into the living room to wait for his friend. Eyeing the small box of cold pills he had laid on the coffee table, he read the label, pushed out the correct dosage out of the foil, and grabbed a glass of water before going back down the hall. He quietly knocked on the door and waited for Sakura to open it.

When she finally did open it, Sasuke noticed that her eyes were wide with worry and she quickly ushered him into the room, taking the glass from his hand and setting it on the bedside table. "Sasuke-kun, you've got to see this," she whispered as gently rolled the girl over and raised the back of her makeshift nightgown.

Sasuke's onyx eyes widened briefly, then narrowed slightly when he saw what had addled his friend so. The vertebrate in Naruto's back jutted out of the skin, showing how truly underweight she was. "No wonder she was so light," he said softly, reaching out as if he were going to run his fingers across her bones, but then quickly pulling his hand back.

Sakura pulled the shirt back down and slowly sat Naruto up. "Naruto," she called, gently shaking her by the shoulders.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she raised a hand to rub her eyes. "Hm?" she mumbled, her speech slightly slurred as she was still half asleep and not fully aware of her surroundings.

"Naruto, you need to take your medicine. It'll help you feel better," Sakura murmured softly, pushing the two pills Sasuke had brought into the room into the girl's hand.

"Mm-kay." Naruto obediently placed the two pills in her mouth and then took a drink of the water from the glass Sakura had placed at her lips.

As soon as she was done, Sakura helped the blonde settle back down into the blankets, sitting on the edge of the bed and gently stroking her hair until her breathing slowed and became more rhythmic. Then, Sakura arose from her seat and walked out the door, beckoning Sasuke to follow her as she turned off the light and shut the door behind them. "She really needs to see a doctor, Sasuke-kun."

The man pinched the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb, looking at Sakura through the hair that fallen across his face. "I know that. But you didn't see how panicky she got when I mentioned that to her earlier, before I brought her here," he explained.

"Which reminds me... why _did_ you bring her here in the first place?" Sakura asked curiously, giving him a small smile. "I mean, it's not like you to bring random people into your apartment. In fact, it's not like you to bring anyone to your apartment. So why her? Not that I'm complaining. I mean, there's no telling what might have happened to her if you hadn't brought her here."

Crossing his arms over his chest, he sighed. He knew she would ask this eventually. "In all honesty, I don't know why. But... she just looked so pathetic when that man tried to rape her and even I can't kick a wounded puppy. I'm not _that_ cold hearted." He hoped that explanation would suffice, as he no other he could offer her. It still surprised him that he had brought the girl to his apartment.

"I know you aren't. It just takes a lot to get past that cold exterior." She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I still remember the old you, you know. Before you changed."

"Don't even start on that, Sakura. That part of my life is over," he muttered angrily, shrugging her hand off his shoulder as he turned to go back into the living room.

Taking a deep breath, she simply let his icy attitude slide right past her. After having to deal with it for six years, she was used to it by now. "So, anyways, Sasuke-kun, you didn't tell me _why_ you followed her to her... uh... _home_," Sakura prodded, going to the kitchen and grabbing a lemonade from the refrigerator.

Sasuke sat down on the couch and leaned back, letting his head fall back. "She stole my wallet a few days ago," he muttered quietly. "And she recognized me after I beat the crap out of that guy and told me that she still had it. So, she took me to the warehouse and returned it to me."

Sakura blinked rapidly a few times, as though she were trying to wake up from a dream of some kind and sat down on the couch across from him. "Let me get this straight. She stole your wallet and you _still_ brought her here?" she asked incredulously. "Wow... I mean, geez Sasuke-kun... that is not something most people would do."

"Yeah, I know."

"You do realize that if you hadn't of brought her here today, she may have died from a combination of starvation and flu?" She watched as he nodded tiredly. "You know, I think it must have been fate that you found her," she continued, smiling as she saw him roll his eyes at her.

"What is with the fate crap, Sakura? You're starting to sound like Hyuuga," he said quietly, staring at her through half-lidded eyes.

The girl took another sip of her drink and smiled broadly. "How else do you explain Lee and I, hm?"

When he didn't answer, she continued, knowing that she had already told him this at least a hundred times before. "I mean, come on. When we were at Konoha High in our sophomore year, there was a masquerade ball at the gym. I was standing alone in the middle of the dance floor, everybody else dancing around me already had a partner. Then, the spotlight shined down on me and another person a few yards away. When he approached me, he offered his hand out for me to dance. Of course, I didn't know it was Lee at the time, or that he was a junior, but I felt that I knew him my whole life. Then, one year later, he gave me a promise ring and we'll still happily together. Now, Mister Cynical, how do you explain that?"

"If I've told you once, Sakura, then I've told you a thousand times. It's all just a coincidence." He ran a hand down his face and stifled a yawn. "Speaking of Lee, when's he going to get back from China?"

"The first week in November," she said excitedly. Even after two years of being lovers, she still acted like she was a young schoolgirl with a crush on a boy. She just wished he was able to finish college here and not have to travel abroad. She misses him everyday. "Anyways, Sasuke-kun, it's getting kind of late and I should get going."

Sasuke across the room at the clock hanging on the wall, noting it was already near midnight. Rising to his feet, he escorted Sakura out of his apartment, letting her give him her customary hug before she left. "Good night, Sakura," he mumbled tiredly, about to shut the door when she pushed it back open.

"Oh, by the way, be sure you get her to take those pills every eight hours and make sure she gets plenty of liquids. You have my number if you need anything, so don't hesitate to call. I can always get off work early if you need me," she gushed, trying to think of anything else that he might not otherwise think of. "And if her fever gets over 103 degrees, you have to take her to the hospital even if she does panic. Okay?"

"Hai, Sakura." He gently pushed her out the door and shut it in her face, leaning against it and sighing loudly. "She's worse than any mother I've ever seen," he muttered as he locked the door and started towards his own room, flipping off the lights as he went.

As he passed the spare room, he stopped for a moment, then slowly opened the door and stared at the small lump in the bed that was his guest for the time being. Silently walking across the room, he stopped at the side of the bed and leaned over slightly, brushing his hand across her forehead.

"Fever's gone down," he muttered to himself, absentmindedly pulling the blanket up to her chin as she had thrown it off, her arms which were now covered in small goose bumps from the cooler air. Looking at her face, he noticed how young she appeared. "She can't be more than fifteen."

Just as quietly as he had come in, Sasuke left the room, shutting the door behind him and walking across to his own room which was located just across the hall from hers. Sighing, he made a mental note to call the Konoha Military Police Corps in the morning and inform his second-in-command, Kakashi, that he would not come to work for the next few days. Even though Sasuke owned the police department and was the chief, he still had to come to work like everybody else. Besides, there were some strange disturbances acting up around Konoha, disturbances that unnerved him for some reason.

But, he would have to take the next few days off until Naruto was better. He couldn't leave her alone in the apartment while she was sick. And, now that he thought of it, he couldn't leave her alone in the apartment period. She was a thief, after all. She could and probably would rob him blind the moment she got the chance.

He stared at himself in his bathroom mirror, glaring at the reflection staring back at him. It would always be a reminder of his past, and a reminder of why he had chosen to be alone all these years. And he had managed to keep himself isolated for six years, only letting Sakura and a few other close friends get close to him. Yet, somehow, that girl in the other room had managed to break down his defenses and cause him to pity someone and want to help them. That was an emotion he hadn't allowed himself to feel since before the accident.

He had built his emotional wall up around himself and kept piling the bricks higher, replacing them as they crumbled. But, this girl had somehow slipped through a crack in his wall that he hadn't known existed and now she was sleeping in his spare room. "This is only until she's well," he reminded himself, closing his eyes tightly. "Besides, Sakura will kill me if I make her leave now."

So, finding no way out of the whole he had dug himself into, Sasuke finished preparing for bed and climbed beneath the covers of his bed. But, instead of the sleep he so desperately wanted, he could only continue to ponder what exactly had made him bring the young pickpocket into his house. And, not coming up with a satisfactory answer, he finally drifted off to a disturbed sleep, haunted by shadows of his past.

* * *

The sound of something pounding against the window awakened Naruto, her eyes fluttering open reluctantly to find dark storm clouds covering the sky and hailstones hitting the glass. She slowly sat up, looking down at the burgundy comforter laying across her and hazily wondered where she was. The vague memory of a man named Sasuke bringing her to his apartment, feeding her, and letting her bathe suddenly cleared, though it didn't ease her confusion. It was still a new and strange thought to her that someone in this city, someone who she had just _robbed,_ would bring her into their home.

A splitting headache let itself be known and Naruto lay herself back down upon the pillows, pulling the blanket up to her chin and curling into a ball as feverish chills raced through her body. She groaned softly, reaching up to rub her temples, her eyes clenched shut against the pain.

"I hate being sick," she muttered under her breath, rolling over to help clear her stuffy nose as she gasped for breath between parted lips. A look at the bedside clock showed her that it was just after five in the morning and the way her eyelids kept drooping told her that it was way too early to be getting up.

But, just as slumber nearly reclaimed her, she realized that the bedroom door was shut, sending shivers down her spine. The closed door… it reminded her of the rejection.. of the hatred… of that day…

"_Get out of here, you damn monster! GET OUT AND NEVER COME BACK!"_

_The orphan owner's words still rang through __a four year old Naruto's ears as she felt the sudden heavy rain pour colliding onto her tan skin. She turned around, only to see the door, the place where she spent the four years of her life, rejected her like all the other people she knew._

It caused an absolute terror to settle upon her chest, as though it were forcibly holding her down. So, quickly jumping out of the bed, she stumbled to the door, swaying slightly with both nausea and vertigo, and wrenched the door open.

She crawled back into the bed, clutching her head with one hand and reaching for a Kleenex with the other. But, satisfied nonetheless that the terror had dissipated now that the door was open and the soft glow of a nightlight from the hallway washed through the room, sending instant relief to her frazzled nerves. Sniffling as her nose began running again, Naruto rolled onto her other side and allowed herself to succumb to sleep.

A few hours later, Naruto awoke to the feel of a calloused hand on her forehead and she lazily opened her eyes, squinting them again when the overhead light threatened to blind her still sleepy eyes. "What's going on?" she rasped, her throat having become raw with breathing through her mouth all night and her lips slightly chapped as well.

"Nothing. I was just checking your fever," Sasuke explained, removing his hand from her forehead and looking down at her. One could tell she was sick just by the feverish flush on her cheeks and the dark bags under her eyes. "How are you feeling this morning?"

Naruto sighed, her eyes still closed against the bright light of the room and tried to sit up, only to find that she was having difficulties. "Just a ginormous headache," she murmured, rubbing her forehead to help ease the throbbing that was already forming.

Turning back to the bed, the blue and green pills in one hand and a glass of water in the other, he raised his brow and stared at Naruto. "Dobe, 'ginormous' is not a word," he stated.

"Don't call me dobe, teme!" Naruto shouted, getting worked up over the little insult. Nausea suddenly crashed on her, making the room tilt dangerously.

Sasuke went quiet for a moment after her outburst. The two sat there, black eyes staring at a fever tinted Naruto as if she was a specimen in a laboratory. The moment passed as Sasuke let out a sigh and looked at the blonde straight in the eye, saying something that threw the blonde completely off guard.

"I'm sorry."

Naruto had nothing to say.

"I shouldn't have worked you up with your condition."

Handing her the pills, she looked at warily before turning her eyes up to him in question. "Don't worry. They're just cold pills Sakura left for you last night. And if I don't give them to you, she'll have my head."

Naruto nodded mutely and tossed the pills into her mouth, immediately grabbing the water to wash them down. He turned his attention back to the girl in the bed. "So, other than your headache, are you feeling okay?"

"Feeling okay to WHAT?" she exclaimed a little louder and a little more heated than she had originally planned, but with the headache pounding away at her skull, she could barely contain it. "I can't breathe through my nose, my throat feels like someone scraped it with the edge of a knife, my stomach is preparing to throw up everything I've eaten in the last year, and to top it all off, MY STUPID LIPS ARE GETTING CHAPPED!"

Sasuke took a step back from the bed, his onyx eyes wide as he stared at the yelling girl, who had just started coughing from her uproar. "I guess you feel well enough to shout..." he trailed off, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

Cringing slightly at his words, Naruto shut her eyes and lowered her head, a hand reaching up to rub her eyes. "I'm sorry uh... teme–erm, uh.. Sasuke-san... er... I mean... uh... Uchiha-san?" she finished lamely, giving him an apologetic smile and lifting her eyes slightly to look at him. She had never done too well with other people, having learnt at a young age to rely upon herself since most of the world couldn't care less about her.

Eye narrowing slightly, Sasuke realized that he had never actually introduced himself to her. Sasuke-san… that just what all of those stereotypical adults called him.. and Uchiha-san… that's.. that's what people called his father… and he doesn't want to think about the past now. "Where did you learn my name?" he finally inquired rather coldly, an icy barrier rising up around him.

"Your driver's license," she mumbled quietly, looking back down at the comforter that covered her. She chanced another glance back up to him, noticing the way his eyes had become icy in just the few seconds after she had said his name. "You know, when I... uh... _borrowed_ it the other day... I... I kinda was looking through it for cash..."

Sasuke sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb, his eyes closed as he tried to lower the icy barrier. "Don't call me Sasuke-san or Uchiha-san... it makes me feel old," he muttered, leaning his head backwards and looking at the ceiling. "Just... just call me Sasuke, okay?"

Naruto nodded quickly, not wanting to upset this man that had taken both the time and effort to bring her into his house. "Alright... Sasuke," she whispered.

Shaking his head, Sasuke pushed away from the wall and started towards the doorway, but stopped, placing his hand upon the doorframe and his face still looking into the hallway "I'm sorry if I seem cold sometimes, but those formalities reminds me too much of the past," he explained, turning his head slightly to look at her. "But, anyways, do you think you can get up to eat or do you want me to bring it in here for you?"

"Uh... I feel a little dizzy when I sit up, but I think I can stumble into the kitchen to eat..." she began, bringing her legs around and placing her feet upon the floor. It was then that she noticed she was no longer wearing the clothes Sakura had brought her, but a white dress shirt that was too big for her, a few of the buttons unfastened at the bottom. "I didn't go to sleep in this..." she trailed off, a hot blush coming across her cheeks as she realized that someone had changed her clothes and Sasuke was the only other person she knew of in this apartment.

A soft chuckle escaped Sasuke's throat as he noticed her embarrassment and he decided that he might better explain the situation to her. "Sakura came by while you were sleeping last night and insisted that you change clothes. She did it, not me. I wasn't even in the room," he told her, pointing towards the pile of clothing the florist had folded neatly the night before. "Your other clothes are right there if you want to change..."

Nodding, Naruto hesitantly stood up, the button-up shirt she wore hanging down to her mid-thigh, and gripped the wrought iron headboard of the bed to keep her balance as a wave of dizziness swept over her. She noticed that Sasuke was still standing in the doorway, watching her as she tried to take a few steps, only to fall backwards onto the bed. "Maybe I should eat in here after all," she muttered quietly, looking up at him to see him nod and walk off down the hallway.

She settled herself back into the bed, sitting up and leaning back against the headboard after having propped up a few pillows behind her. A lump under the covers got her attention and she reached under there to find her stuffed fox, smiling as she brought him out. When Sasuke had handed her that fox yesterday, still warm from its trip in the dryer, she was hardly able to control the smile that broke out on her face. It was simply amazing to her that he had seen the orange fox and had thought enough to bring it with her. She briefly wondered why a man that could seem so sweet acted so cold-hearted, like when she had called him Sasuke-san and Uchiha-san moments before.

Sitting the fox on her lap, she drew her knees up and stared at the fox. "Okay, Kyuu," she whispered in a conspiratorial manner, feeling embarrassed to be talking to a stuffed fox at her age, "what do you think—" She broke off when she heard soft chuckling coming from the doorway and she quickly jerked her head around to see Sasuke standing there with a tray in his hands. "I was... uh... talking to my fox?"

"I assumed as much," the man replied, handing the tray to her and then pulling a chair from across the room to sit at her bedside while she ate her breakfast of toast and orange juice. He figured the toast would be easy on her stomach and the vitamin C in the orange juice would help fight off her cold. "So, Naruto, tell me about yourself."

Taking a drink of her juice to help ease the toast down her dry throat, she nodded. "Well... what do you want to know?" she inquired, hoping he wouldn't try and dig into her life. He had mentioned that he did not want to be reminded of his past and she was the same way. There were certain aspects of it she wished she could forget, yet they would still haunt her daily.

"Do your parents know where you are?" he inquired.

Naruto closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, mentally cursing at her bad luck, but knew that he would persist until she gave him an answer. And considering the circumstances, she did owe it to him to tell him. "No. My parents died when I was born. I was raised in an orphanage for part of my life."

The headache that had turned to a dull throb now began to pound again, causing her to wince. She opened her eyes and noticed that he was about to say something, but she quickly stopped him. "And don't say you're sorry. I don't want your pity," she snapped.

Sasuke shut his mouth with a snap, nodding mutely and silently respecting her for her response. He knew of too many people who loved to revel in self-pity and receive pity from others. "What about the rest of your family?" he finally said, trying to figure out why someone as young as her could possibly be living on the streets, near starvation.

"They either don't exist or they didn't care 'cause I haven't heard from any of them since then," she scoffed, taking a sip of her juice in the hopes that the cool liquid would help with the aching of her head. She could see in his eyes that he wanted to know more, and she silently debated whether or not she should tell him the rest.

Sighing, she finally acquiesced, "I spent the first four years being of my life at the orphanage. I didn't like the people and the people didn't like me. So, I left thirteen years ago and I haven't regretted it." Maybe that wasn't the whole truth, but Naruto didn't trust this guy enough to tell him all about her life story.

Adding up the years in his head, Sasuke started with the age of four years she had said she was when she left the orphanage, making his eyes widen when he realized how old she actually was. "Wait a minute. You're seventeen?" he asked incredulously, his eyes going over her blanket covered form to try and verify the fact.

The teenager wryly raised an eyebrow, staring at him. "Eighteen in a month and a half," she replied, watching him as he watched her. She knew she had always been a little on the childish side in appearance, but it had never bothered her. If anything, it helped when she stole someone's wallet. Especially when she made up her sob stories, such as the one she had tried to use on Sasuke the night she had taken his wallet. "Got a problem with it?"

"No. You just don't... well, you just don't _look_ seventeen." He silently decided that this was going to be harder than he had originally thought. When he had first brought her in, he had hoped that he would be able to talk her into going back to the family he had thought she had run away from. But, seeing as how she was nearly eighteen and didn't have a family, he decided that wouldn't work.

As she was eating, Naruto noticed that she was having an increasingly hard time trying to get her eyes to stay open and to keep the yawns at bay. On the plus side, she could feel her stuffy nose clearing and the aching in the head subsiding. "Look, I don't mean to be rude and all, but I'm feeling really tired right now and I don't think I can finish this and I just want to go back to sleep..." she rambled, looking at Sasuke pleadingly. "I don't know why I'm so tired either."

He picked up the box of cold pills, reading the back of it to see what the side effects were and smiling slightly when he came across the first one. "Right here, it says 'May cause drowsiness,'" he told her, picking up the tray her breakfast had been on and noting that she had eaten most of it.

"Okay... well, I'm gonna go back to sleep then," she muttered, already sliding down the headboard and into the blankets, her arms around the small stuffed fox. "Goodnight, Sasuke-teme," she slurred sleepily as slumber reclaimed her.


	4. Threatened

**Summary:** AU Pickpocketing and stealing are the only things Naruto knows to survive in the busy streets of Konoha. But what happens when she stole a wallet from the wrong guy, namely Uchiha Sasuke? What does fate have in stored for these two? SasuFemNaru

**Pairings:** SasuFemNaru, LeeSaku

**Warnings: **Language, Sexual terms, Violence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

* * *

**Thieving Gets You Nowhere**_  
by Aesura_

_**Threatened**_

* * *

For the next few days, Naruto floated in and out of consciousness, staying awake for an hour or so at a time before the cold pills would kick in and make her fall asleep once more. But, her fever was steadily going down and her frequent headaches were gradually disappearing. And as she began to feel better, she would wander around the apartment, scaring Sasuke half the time as he was used to being alone in the apartment. It didn't help that, as a thief, Naruto had learned to walk silently and, thus, would unintentionally sneak up on her host.

Naruto stepped quietly into the living room, immediately seeing Sasuke standing in the kitchen with his back to her as he cut up some vegetables. On the stove, she could both smell and hear the sounds of a roast sizzling as he seared the outside before putting it into the oven. Her nose in the air, deeply breathing in the heavenly scent of the food he was preparing, the teenager crossed the living room and the kitchen, stopping just behind Sasuke as she stood on tiptoe to peer over his shoulder. "What're you cooking?" she piped up suddenly, jumping backwards when the man in front of her spun around, knife in his hands.

"Don't do that!" he hissed, sticking the bleeding thumb he had sliced when she just appeared behind him into his mouth. It never ceased to amaze him how many times she had done just that in only the five days she was there. Especially since for most of those five days she had stayed in bed.

"We need to get you a bell or something to wear around your neck," he muttered as he washed the blood off his thumb and the knife blade before turning back to cutting up the vegetables. "And I'm making a roast, by the way."

Naruto took another whiff of the roast, closing her eyes and smiling as she did so. "It smells delicious," she murmured, temporarily forgetting what she had come in here for.

"So, you you're a police officer, right?" She remembered him telling her one day that he was in charged of the Konoha Military Police Corps, now remembering why his name sounded so familiar. She saw him sometimes on the news in televistions when she passed by an electronics store, the reporter praising how he arrested another serial killer or rapist. But since Naruto had been staying at his apartment, he had only spent a few hours a day there, conducting most of his business over the phone or on his laptop.

His eyes on the task at hand, chopping up the carrots, potatoes, onions, and other various root vegetables, Sasuke answered her. "No, a detective. I used to be, when I first inherited the place. But, now, I worked undercover, to avoid suspicions," he explained.

His statement kind of confused Naruto. Wasn't he eighteen? He should be in college right now, not having a full-time job at a police station, even if he did own the place. "But, shouldn't you be in college?"

"I already graduated." Glancing at her shocked and puzzled look, he continued. "You only need a bachelor's degree in law enforcement to be in the police industry. I graduated from high school early so I could earn my degree and legally inherited the Konoha Military Police Corps," Sasuke explained, taking her 'oh' as an answer of understanding.

Taking the now seared roast off the burner and placing the vegetables around it, he covered it with a lid and carrying it towards the oven. "Can you open the oven?"

Nodding her head, Naruto opened the oven for Sasuke, her mouth already watering for the food. Never in her life had she been fed such delicious food on a daily basis. Which brought her back to her reason for coming out of her room to find Sasuke in the first place.

"Uh... So, Sasuke, I guess I'll be leaving tonight since I'm not sick any more," she tried to say cheerily, but failing miserably. But, she knew she didn't belong here. She would never be able to fit in and she couldn't impose any more on his hospitality.

"I suppose so," Sasuke muttered in reply, washing his hands as he silently wondered what would happen to this girl if she returned to the streets. He decided that she would probably return to pickpocketing and, when that 'job' stopped giving her enough cash, maybe even prostitution, leaving just a shell of the girl that she once was. "I'll be back in a minute."

"Uh.. okay," Naruto stammered as she watched him quickly dry his hands and walk to his room, nearly slamming it shut behind him. Shrugging, the former pickpocket plopped down on the sofa, flipping on the TV and channel surfing until she came across one of the cartoons she had grown to love in the past few days.

In his room, Sasuke leaned against his door, wondering _why_ he felt compelled to do what he was about to do. What was it exactly with this girl that made him not want to let her go back to living on the streets? In his life, he had seen plenty of people living on the streets, and while he did pity them, he never felt the urge to help them anymore than giving them a little spare change.

Sighing, Sasuke pulled out his cell phone and dialed Sakura's number, hearing the continuous rings emitting from the device. The receiver finally picked up. _**"Moshi moshi?"**_

"Sakura."

"_**Oh, Sasuke-kun! I didn't expect you to call. So, what do you need?"**_

"I have a favor to ask, Sakura," Sasuke began, wondering why he was doing this again.

"_**Okay, what's the favor? Or should I ask, what's the chore?"**_

Sasuke cringed slightly, remembering it had just been a week ago that he had asked Sakura to do his laundry for him. Of course, he later regretted it when all his white clothes came back pink, which he promptly rewashed and bleached himself. "No, it's not a chore. It's about Naruto."

A few seconds passed by, neither one of them saying anything. Sasuke could hear her sigh in exasperation, verbally prompting him. _**"Well, are you going to tell me or not?"**_

"Can she live with you?" Sasuke asked bluntly, figuring it would be a lot easier and faster this way. He never was good at leading up to things.

"_**I... uh... huh?"**_ He heard her stammered in confusion, trying to get a grasp on the situation.

Nervously running a hand through his coal black hair, Sasuke continued. "She's planning on leaving tonight and we can't let her go back to living on the streets. There's no telling what will eventually happen to her," he explained.

"_**Well, no. I knew that. What I want to know is why me? I mean, I'd gladly take her in **__**except**__** that she's already used to living with you **__**and**__** you need a little more light in your life. You've been living in the shadows for far too long,"**_ Sakura said firmly.

"But, Sakura... she's only seventeen. What would it look like for an eighteen year old bachelor to take in a seventeen year old teenager? People would talk," Sasuke argued, already knowing that he was going to lose the fight. Whenever Sakura set her mind to something, she always followed through, no matter what she had to do to get there.

"_**People will always talk, Sasuke-kun. You know that as much as I do,"**_ she pointed out, refusing to back down from her stand. _**"It's a sign, Sasuke-kun. Consider it fate."**_

"Enough with the fate crap, Sakura. You know I don't believe in fate," he said in frustration, rising from his seat and starting towards the door. He stopped and asked his longtime friend, "So, should I buy her a collar and license?"

"_**What?"**_ Sasuke heard her asked in confusion.

He threw his head back, rubbing his forehead as he did so. "Never mind, Sakura, never mind," he muttered as he snapped his phone shut, exiting his room to hear Naruto laughing. He looked across the room to see her lounging on the couch, watching a cartoon with a smile on her face. Sasuke couldn't help but see how natural Naruto looked in the setting which slightly disturbed him for some reason. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he walked over and sat in the love seat opposite the couch.

"How do you watch that show?" he finally asked after Naruto spared a passing glance to him before going back to the cartoon.

"I like it. I mean, come on. It's hilarious," she began, pausing to laugh at the screen once again.

"Hn." Sasuke leaned his head back and closing his eyes to take a short nap. But with the thought of Naruto being his permanent guest running through his head, he was finding it hard to do so. What was he going to do with a teenage girl in his apartment?

And that didn't even bring into account the fact that Naruto might not _want_ to stay. She had already expressed an urge to leave just that afternoon. For all he knew, she could take his offering of a roof over her head as a form of pity, which he had found out early on that she hated. Of course, he could always blackmail her into staying if it came down to it. After all, she was _still_ a minor and a runaway from her last foster home, not to mention a pickpocket. All he had to do was turned her in and his coworkers would take matters from there.

Again, this brought him back to _why_ he was doing this. Why would he go through all the trouble to keep her there with him? Why did he feel compelled to keep her around? But, it was one thing that both he and Sakura agreed on. They couldn't let Naruto go back to living on the streets, not after they had both seen the condition she was in when he had brought her here.

Mulling this all over in his mind, he opened his eyes and stared at the girl, who had quieted considerably when she noticed he was trying to take a nap. After only five days here, she was already gaining weight that she needed. The hollows that had been in her cheeks were filling out slightly and her eyes didn't have the dark rings around them anymore. Of course, part of that could have been due to her illness that she was now over, but the way her vertebrate jutted out of her skin wasn't. That had to have been from months of malnourishment.

He didn't know how long he had sat there, musing over the situation at hand, until the timer on the oven went off to tell him that the roast he had put in there earlier was done. Rising from his seat, Sasuke stretched his arms over his head and yawned before going into the kitchen to retrieve their dinner from the oven before it burnt. He noticed that Naruto was following closely behind him, eyes already on the oven door. "I still have to carve it, you know," he said over his shoulder, chuckling silently when he saw the look of disappointment on her face.

"How long will that take?" Naruto asked, her voice sounding just slightly whiny but she couldn't help it. That smell had been taunting her senses for the last hour or so, begging her to just come and take a bite. Besides, this would be the last good meal she would have since she'd be leaving tonight.

"Not long," Sasuke answered, pulling the roast out of the oven and setting it on the stove. "But it has to rest for fifteen minutes or it'll dry out." The look of horror on her face was priceless. He pointed towards the cabinets while he pulled a knife out of the butcher's block. "Make yourself useful and set the table or something."

Complying, Naruto reached into the cabinet and pulled out two of the blue and white plates, lingering as she passed by the roast. "Are you _sure_ you have to wait fifteen minutes? I mean, what if I just took a small bite right now?" she pleaded, looking back and forth between him and the roast.

Reaching into the pan, Sasuke pulled out a small piece of potato with a fork and handed it to her. "Will that satisfy you until it's actually ready to eat?" he asked, nearly laughing at how fast she grabbed the fork and stuffed the potato into her mouth. He had to admit, he had never seen anyone eat as much or as often as her since she got over her nausea while sick.

The fifteen minutes Sasuke insisted upon finally passed and he carved the roast, much to Naruto's relief. As far as she knew, this was her last real meal. Their dinner passed in silence with Naruto shoveling the food into her mouth like there was no tomorrow and Sasuke watching her out of the corner of her eye.

Dropping her fork as she took her last bite, Naruto looked up at Sasuke. "Well, I guess it's time for me to be going," she announced, rising from the table and going back to the spare room for her stuff. She stopped in the hallway and looked down at her clothes. She was still wearing the stuff Sakura had loaned her. "Uh... do you think Sakura-chan wants her clothes back?"

"Nope. She won't mind," Sasuke called back to her, taking the plates to the kitchen and placing them in the dishwasher. He watched as she came back into the living room, a plastic bag in one hand with her clothes and stuffed fox. Before she reached the door, though, he had beaten her to it and stood in front of it, blocking her path.

"Uh... is there anything else?" Naruto wondered aloud, confused by his actions and trying to sidle past him. "I really do need to leave and find some place before it gets dark."

"I want you to stay here a little longer," Sasuke told her, his voice coming out a little colder than planned.

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she tried to figure out what he was up to. Her thoughts flew back to what she had offered him her first day here and she took an involuntary step backwards. "I thought you said you didn't want that!"

"What?" Sasuke asked, now his turn to be confused until he realized what she was talking about. "No, no, no! Why do you keep thinking that? What I meant was that I think there's a lot more you can do with yourself. If you stay with me I can at least help you stand on your own two feet–_without_ committing misdemeanors on a daily basis to survive."

"Like what?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Look, if you stay here, I can help you find a job at a café so you'll be earning your money honestly," he explained calmly.

Naruto rolled her eyes and tried to get past him once more. "I've told you before, I don't need or want your pity. Now let me leave."

Sasuke stood his ground, still blocking the doorway. "If you don't stay here, I have no other option than to turn you in. You are _still _a minor and, therefore, you would have to return to a foster family until you turn eighteen. Not to mention, you were a pickpocket," he told her coldly, his voice leaving no room for argument.

"Are you _threatening _me?" Naruto asked just as coldly as him.

"Yes, I am," he replied, eyes narrowing slightly as he began to wonder what he was getting himself into. "It's your choice." He stepped away from the doorway, opening the door so she could leave if she wanted.

Naruto glared at him, her cerulean eyes ablaze with anger. "Fine. You win. I'll stay here until I turn eighteen and then I'm out of here. Got it?"

"Fine, then," Sasuke muttered, shutting the door and watching as she stomped off down the hallway to what he now considered to be her room. "Sakura, you owe me for this," he mumbled, going back into the kitchen to finish cleaning up.


	5. Understanding Sasuke

**Summary:** AU Pickpocketing and stealing are the only things Naruto knows to survive in the busy streets of Konoha. But what happens when she stole a wallet from the wrong guy, namely Uchiha Sasuke? What does fate have in stored for these two? SasuFemNaru

**Pairings:** SasuFemNaru, LeeSaku, NejiTen, KibaHina, JiraTsu, ShikaTema

**Warnings: **Language, Sexual terms, Violence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

* * *

**Thieving Gets You Nowhere**_  
by Aesura_

_**Understanding Sasuke**_

* * *

On the couch in Sasuke's living room sat Naruto, her arms crossed over her chest and her azure eyes glaring angrily at the man's back as he walked out of the room. It had been nineteen hours and twenty-seven minutes since Sasuke had _threatened _her into staying and it had been nineteen hours and twenty-six minutes since she had last spoken to him. And she was meticulously keeping track of the time, wondering how long it would take before her silent treatment broke him and he allowed her to leave.

In her mind, it was one thing to _invite_ her to stay with him, but _threatening _was quite another. If he had asked her to stay, instead of demanding it, she knew she would have given in simply because she enjoyed his company, no matter how cold he sometimes appeared. His coldness intrigued her in a way she couldn't understand. But, he _hadn't_ asked her to stay and that thought didn't sit well with her. Even as a child, Naruto had never liked being ordered around and, now, here she was, being commanded to do something by a man she hardly even knew.

A knock on the door caused her to turn her head and out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sasuke poking his head out of his bedroom door and glare at her. "Do you think you can get that?" he demanded, pointing at the front door as another knock sounded.

"What am I, his slave labor now?" Naruto muttered darkly under her breath as she rose from the couch and slowly crossed the room to the door. She wrenched it open, a scowl on her face which immediately softened when she realized that it was Sakura at the door, and even if the pink haired girl _was _Sasuke's friend, she had still treated the blonde with nothing but kindness and sweetness. "Sakura-chan," Naruto sighed, stepping away from the door and letting her into the apartment.

Green eyes looked at Naruto worriedly, her brows furrowed as she studied the girl and could obviously see the distress on her face. "Is something wrong, Naruto?" Sakura asked quietly, reaching out and putting a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder. "You can talk to me about anything, you know. And I won't tell a soul about what goes on between us."

"I—" Naruto opened her mouth to speak, but she saw Sasuke coming up the hall towards them and she shut her mouth with a snap. Her eyes narrowed to tiny slits as she glared over Sakura's shoulder at him before turning her gaze back to the pinkette. "Sakura-chan, tell Sasuke-teme that he's being an ass, forcing me to stay here like some animal..."

Sasuke started to say something, but Sakura cut him off before he even had a chance to let the words out of his mouth. "Naruto, why don't we go do something today? I mean, you've been cooped up in this apartment for almost a week now and some fresh air will do you good. Not to mention that you need to get out of this man-apartment," she rushed out, grabbing Naruto's arm and ushering her to the door.

"Uh... Sakura-chan, I don't have any shoes on," Naruto said, stopping her before she pushed her completely out of the door. "I think I might need some shoes to go anywhere, don't you?"

Looking down at the teenager's bare feet, Sakura laughed. "Yeah, that might be helpful. Okay, you go get your shoes on and I'll wait for you." She waited until Naruto was out of the room and then rounded on Sasuke.

"Okay, Sasuke-kun. Why is she so upset?" she hissed angrily, her hands on her hips and eyes boring into his. "What exactly did you say to her last night?"

"I just told her that if she didn't stay here, I would turn her in," Sasuke explained nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders as he did so.

"Sasuke-kun, you weren't supposed to _threaten_ her! Did you ever think that if maybe you just _asked_ she might have stayed?" Sakura raised a hand to rub her eyes and then pinched the bridge of her nose with her forefinger and thumb. "You know what? Don't answer that. Just give me some money."

Obsidian coal eyes widened in surprise and stared at the woman in front of him, trying to figure out _why_ she wanted _his_ money. But seeing that demanding look in her eyes and having prior experience with Sakura when she had her mind set on something, he reluctantly pulled out his wallet and handed her some bills, not even bothering to count how much he gave her. "And _why_ am I giving you money, Sakura?"

"Because Naruto needs some clothes of her own. She can't just keep wearing my old stuff. I'll take her shopping today and I'll split the cost with you fifty-fifty, okay?" Sakura insisted, not even waiting for his answer before putting the money into her purse. "And I'll try to smooth things over between the two of you. You can't live together if you aren't even talking."

Naruto walked back into the living room, wearing a pair of faded and torn orange sneakers along with the blue jeans and white top Sakura had loaned her. The clothes hung off her body as they were just a little too big for tiny frame.

"Okay, Sakura-chan. I'm ready and where are we going?" Naruto asked as she walked to the door, Sakura following right behind her.

"Shopping," Sakura sang happily, turning back to smile sweetly at Sasuke as they left. "And, Sasuke-kun, don't expect us until we get back."

* * *

After weaving through the traffic and road construction that always seemed to be going on in this city, Sakura and Naruto finally made it across town to the large mall located there. During the ride, the two of them made idle chit-chat. They both avoided the subject of Sasuke: Sakura because she knew there was tension between him and Naruto, and Naruto because she was still too angry with him and didn't want to make herself seem too ungrateful while with his friend.

"_Sigh_. I'd wished that Ino or the others had time off work to come shopping with us. I'd bet they'll love to meet you," Sakura sighed, mostly saying it to herself other than her companion.

Naruto inclined her head a bit in bewilderment. "Who?"

"Oh, no, it's nothing. Just thinking about a few of my friends. I'm sure you'll meet them soon," she chided, giving her a smile that ceased the end of that conversation. Sakura, finding a parking space, expertly veered her car to the vacant spot with ease.

"So, anyways, what kind of shopping are we doing?" Naruto questioned as she climbed out of the Sakura's silver Porsche and stood next to it, waiting for the medical trainee to join her before she began walking across the parking lot.

"We're getting you some clothes that will actually fit you better than that," the pinkette explained, pointing to the seemingly baggy clothes Naruto wore. "And we'll get your hair done and you could use some new shoes..." She trailed off when she noticed that with each thing she proposed Naruto's eyes grew wider and a look of fear came into them. "Hey, Naruto, relax. I'm not going to bite."

"Then why are you doing all this for me?" the teenager asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowing slightly as she watched Sakura's facial expression. She was still finding it hard to believe that after seventeen years of life, she had found some people who were willing to help her. And old suspicions die hard.

There was a long pause while Sakura tried to find the words she wanted to say and she gently grabbed Naruto's arm to keep her from walking on. "I've always wanted a little sister," she began, sounding almost apologetic as she did so. "And you're the closest thing I've ever had to one."

Scrunching her eyebrows together, Naruto looked down at the ground and studied the cracks in the pavement. She finally looked back up at Sakura and grinned. "Well, let's get this party started then. I've never really done a lot of shopping. The clothes I got were just hand-me-downs from the orphanage, but..." she trailed off, not wanting to think about her past. She didn't need to or want to deal with the pain right now.

Sakura smiled brightly and nodded, already starting for the mall entrance again with Naruto in tow. "Alright then. We'll start at the shoe store and get you something more comfortable to walk in since we're going to be here for awhile," she told her, already mapping out a route through the stores in the mall in her head. "And then we'll get your hair done."

"Uh... Sakura, how about we just take this one step at a time, okay?" the teenager pleaded, following her into the shoe store that was located near the entrance. Naruto balked when she saw the prices on the shoes and started to back out of the store, but the woman stopped her.

"Naruto, where are you going?" Sakura asked quietly, dragging the teenager back into the store and towards the back, where they kept the walking shoes. "You need a pair of sneakers since those look like they're about to fall apart."

Taking another look at the prices, Naruto tried to escape again but to no avail. Sakura's grip on her arm was like steel. "Sakura-chan, the prices on these shoes are outrageous. Shouldn't we try a cheaper store or something?" she hissed as she saw the saleswoman coming towards them.

"Don't worry about it, Naruto," Sakura whispered as she turned towards the saleswoman and smiled, already pointing to a sneaker on the display that she wanted Naruto to try on. "What size shoe do you wear?"

Naruto looked around helplessly, finding that between Sakura and the saleswoman she was trapped. Sighing, she sat down in the chair provided. "Size six, I think. I'm not too sure since I've never really had to worry about it," she muttered as she watched the saleswoman bustle off to the back room.

She turned back to Sakura. "Sakura-chan, I don't see how you're gonna be able to afford to buy me these shoes and everything else you wanted to today."

Sakura took a seat next to Naruto, pointing down at her shoes to signal her to take them off before she started talking. "Money is not a problem. Between me and Sasuke-kun, it definitely won't be a problem. So quit worrying about it," she explained, running her fingers through the teenager's short blonde hair and grimacing when she saw all the split ends. "And we are going to get your hair done next. No ifs, ands, or buts about it."

The saleswoman soon came back, shoe box in her hands which she sat in the empty chair on the other side of Naruto before handing the teenager the shoes to try on. Seeing that they fit her, Sakura told the saleswoman that Naruto would be wearing them out of the store and asked if they could dispose of Naruto's other shoes. Then, after paying for them, Sakura dragged Naruto down to the first place she could to get her hair done.

While her hair was being washed and cut, Naruto began to wonder what was going on between Sakura and Sasuke. After all, she knew that Sakura was very familiar with Sasuke, but she wasn't sure what exactly she was to the man. "So, uh... Sakura-chan, what exactly is going on between you and Sasuke? Are you dating or what?" she finally asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

A loud snort caused her to jerk her head towards the older woman and the hairdresser to reprimand her as she very nearly lost a large chunk of her hair when she did that. She turned her head back to the front and waited for Sakura to quit laughing and answer her.

"We're just friends, Naruto," the pinkette finally said when she managed to catch her breath. "And we've been friends for a very long time. About six years, I think." She paused to think for a moment, trying to place the dates in her head. "Yeah, six years because we were both freshmen at junior high school."

"Oh, friends, huh?" the teenager said, smirking at her. "I think I've heard that line from people before."

Sakura sighed loudly and rolled her eyes, giving the teenager a playfully exasperated stare. "Yes, just friends," she reiterated, digging into her purse at the same time and pulling out a few pictures. "Besides, I'm already taken." She handed the pictures to Naruto. "That's Lee, my boyfriend. He's in college studying aboard right now. But he'll be back in November."

Naruto stared at the picture, cocking an eyebrow when she saw the black haired man with confident black eyes smiling at the camera with his thumb posed forward. _"Those are some fuzzy eyebrows,"_ she thought, although, she could see the kindness and love in his features for the pink haired girl.

The blonde looked at her and grinned. "Looks like he loves you very much." She passed the pictures back to the older woman, trying to keep her head as still as possible while the hairdresser finished up.

Finally, Naruto's chair was spun around so she could look in the mirror to see what had been done with her hair and she found herself pleasantly surprised. The ragged ends that she had done herself only a few weeks before were smoothed out and her blonde hair framed her face. And the shampoo and conditioner the stylist had used had helped with the split ends and added a sheen to it. "Wow..." she murmured, staring at her reflection.

"You like it then?" Sakura asked as she paid the hairdresser.

"Yeah. It looks so much better than I ever thought it could." She turned and eyed the various bottles of shampoos and conditioners sitting on the display shelves. "And those work a lot better than Sasuke's shampoo," she whispered, pointing to the bottles.

Sakura turned to her. "You've been using Sasuke's shampoo?" she asked incredulously.

Confused, Naruto nodded. "Um... yeah... why?"

Not giving her an answer, Sakura quickly had a bottle of shampoo and conditioner added to the bill and paid for them. "Naruto," she finally said as they left the place, "Us girls used a different product of shampoo and conditioner than men. Those two-in-one hair products aren't healthy if you want your hair to have luster and fullness."

They wandered through the mall, finally coming upon a clothing store that was a personal favorite of Sakura's and she insisted they stop in there to begin what she called 'real shopping'. "Naruto, I just _know_ that you'll love the stuff in here," she began as she darted into the store and immediately began pulling shirts from the racks for the teenager to try on.

Naruto paled when she noticed that nearly all the tops Sakura had in her hands were in different shades of pink. "Um... Sakura-chan, I don't me to sound rude... but... uh... pink is _not_ my color," she stammered, her eyes growing as the pile of pink clothing in the woman's arms increased.

"Are you sure you don't want to wear pink?" Sakura asked, her eyes pleading with the teenager. "Can't you at least try it on?"

Biting her lip, Naruto eyed the pink clothes and tried not to grimace. She had always hated pink, even as a young girl. "If I wear white and red, will you lay off the pink?"

Sighing, Sakura nodded as she began hanging the pink clothing back on the racks. "Okay, you win," she muttered, already looking around the store and eyeing the other clothes. A rack of blue jeans caught her eye and she dragged Naruto over to them. "We can start with the blue jeans and work our way up."

Sakura began pulling various sizes of blue jeans down and handed them to Naruto, trying to judge what size the girl would wear. After about the fifth pair in her arms, Naruto stopped the woman from handing her anymore. "Sakura-chan, the dressing rooms say no more than five items," she pointed out as she walked over to them.

"Okay, okay. Go try those on and see which size you wear and _then_ we'll get you some more."

After trying on all five pairs and finding that all of them were still too big on her, Naruto opened the dressing room door and stared at Sakura. "They were all too big," she muttered, handing the stack to Sakura.

Looking at the tags, Sakura sighed and found a smaller pair. "Here, try these on," she said, handing the blue jeans to the teenager.

A few minutes later, Naruto stepped out of the dressing room wearing the blue jeans. "Yeah, these fit. What size are they, anyways?"

"Zero," Sakura muttered disgustedly, going to find more clothes for the girl to try on.

"Size zero? Does that mean I don't exist?" Naruto asked incredulously as she looked down at the blue jeans.

A few feet away from her, Sakura pushed through the racks of clothes and grabbed some more blue jeans. "Oh how I hate you..." she muttered in mock anger as she handed some more clothes to the girl, this time a sleek black dress as well.

Naruto looked at the dress in distress, slowly taking it from the woman's arms. "Why do I need a dress? I'm not going to a party, am I?"

"You never know when you'll need to look nice," Sakura explained, pointing towards the dressing room. "Now go try it on." She noted happily that the teenager had conceded to her demands and entered the room, only to emerge a few minutes later wearing the dress.

"Well?" Naruto prodded sheepishly, noticing that Sakura was staring at her perfectly smooth legs.

Sakura blinked a few times before looking back up at Naruto. "Naruto, don't you shave your legs?" she asked quietly, not wanting to draw attention to them.

"Uh... no. Why would I? I thought shaving was for men," the teenager said in slight confusion.

Shaking her head, Sakura closed her eyes and massaged her temples. "I envy you so much," she muttered under her breath, ushering Naruto back into the dressing room to try on the other clothes she had found for her.

After spending another hour trying on and buying clothes in that particular store, Sakura looked at her watch and realized how late it was and that they hadn't had dinner yet. She voiced these thoughts to Naruto as she led her out to her Porsche so they could relieve themselves of the many bags before going to the small Italian restaurant located inside the mall. As soon as they were seated and had placed their orders, Sakura decided it was time to broach the subject of Sasuke and try to help the teenager understand him.

"Naruto, I think it's time I told you a little bit about Sasuke-kun. To help you understand why he is the way he is," she began, nervously tugging on her pink hair and taking a sip of her tea while she struggled to find a way to explain him without going into the things she knew he would not want revealed.

"Oh, you mean why he's an asshole?" Naruto asked sarcastically, becoming angry with him once more when she thought back to the way he had demanded she stay there and then threatened her.

Sakura winced at the girl's bitter tone, but realized that she did have a reason for being so mad at the man. "I suppose you could look at it that way," she conceded slowly, pausing to let it sink in before she continued, "but he's letting you stay with him. He took you off the streets and fed you and made sure you got back on your feet. Now he wants to make sure you can stand on them well."

Sighing, Naruto looked down at her napkin sheepishly as she tore the paper into small pieces. "I know... and I _am_ grateful for it. But he's just been so cold and the way he _threatened _me... well, it just made me mad. I mean, I'm used to living by myself and by my own rules and then he comes along and expects differently..."

"Sasuke-kun acts so cold to help him live with his past... so prevent himself from getting close to anyone else," Sakura said quietly, furrowing her brows as she thought back to the events that had happened years ago. "I first met him eleven years ago, back when I still had a crush on him, and it wasn't long after school was over that Sasuke-kun's parents were murdered."

Naruto looked up at her, shock on her face. "Sasuke didn't tell me any of this... not even when he asked about my parents..." she trailed off, remembering that she had told him they had died when she was born, which she had yet to reveal to Sakura. "Do you know how it happened?"

Sakura smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but I don't know all the details. Besides, Sasuke-kun would kill me as it is for telling you the little bit that I know, but you need to know so you can understand him."

She stopped for a minute, taking another drink of her tea before she told her the rest. "Only him and his older brother, Itachi, were the only ones alive since they were both at school. Itachi inherited the family business, supporting him and his brother. Even though Sasuke-kun acted distant at school, he was content that he still had his older brother alive. But, nine years later after their parents' murder, Itachi, too, was murdered."

"Oh wow..." Naruto muttered, her eyes wide with shock at the things the woman was telling her.

"Before then, he was still happy. He actually smiled from time to time. But after Itachi died, he just felt like he had lost everything and wanted to start over. He hurried with his studies at school and then moved out of his parent's house, as far away from his family's memories as he could get. And he changed. He became cold and he refused to let anyone close to him. In fact," she paused and took a deep breath, remembering all the pain her friend had gone through. "The only reason he lets me get close to him is because I make him. I don't give him a choice."

* * *

At around eleven o'clock that night, Naruto finally stumbled through Sasuke's apartment door, her arms loaded down with bags upon bags of clothing, shoes, and other necessities Sakura had insisted that she needed. She noticed that Sasuke simply turned to glace at her from his seat on the couch before going back to watching the action movie playing on the TV. Sighing, Naruto simply carried her bags to her room and threw them on the bed, returning to the living room and sitting on the smaller sofa opposite Sasuke.

She watched the movie for a few minutes, finding herself to be completely unable to follow the plot since she had missed the first half of the movie. So, deciding that _trying_ to watch it was a complete waste of her time, she instead decided to watch her host for a few minutes. He really wasn't paying much attention to anything but the movie, and she found herself able to stare at him without him glaring back at her.

Finally, she yawned, the day's activities catching up to her and she found herself to be completely exhausted. About to go to bed, she realized there was one other thing she needed to do before she did settle in for the night. So, rising from her seat, she stepped across to Sasuke and stood in front of him, waiting for his attention to turn to her.

When it did, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Um... teme-, Sasuke?" she began, avoiding eye contact with him. "Thank you for letting me stay here. And... I'm sorry."

The last part came out so quietly and he wasn't saying anything, that she initially believed he hadn't heard her and she prepared herself to say it once more.

But, Sasuke gave her a small smile and nodded. "Don't worry about it. I guess I was a little out of line yesterday," he admitted softly, watching the girl fidget nervously in front of him.

Naruto gave him her own smile, stifling the urge to yawn again. "That's okay. I shouldn't have been so defensive about it." She turned and started walking towards the hallway, pausing at the entrance.

"Goodnight teme," she called playfully over her shoulder.

"..Goodnight dobe."


	6. New Friends and Old Memories

**Summary:** AU Pickpocketing and stealing are the only things Naruto knows to survive in the busy streets of Konoha. But what happens when she stole a wallet from the wrong guy, namely Uchiha Sasuke? What does fate have in stored for these two? SasuFemNaru

**Pairings:** SasuFemNaru, LeeSaku, NejiTen, KibaHina, JirTsu, ShikaTema, ChouIno

**Warnings: **Language, Sexual terms, Violence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

* * *

**Thieving Gets You Nowhere**_  
by Aesura_

_**New Friends and Old Memories**_

* * *

Sasuke stood in the open doorway of the spare room, the room that Naruto now occupied. He sighed, pushing his ebony hair out of his eyes as he looked at the door in slight confusion, wondering _why_ she had insisted upon leaving the door open night after night. Shaking his head, he turned his eyes to the bed, where Naruto slept with her back to him.

He couldn't help but notice that the blankets were slipping lower down her back while her nightshirt was riding up, revealing both the bare skin of her back and most of the orange panties she wore. It took a moment before Sasuke realized that he was staring, and when he did, he tiredly rubbed his eyes and moved his vision to her feet.

"Dobe?" he called from the doorway, knocking slightly on the doorframe as he did so and waited for a response. "Naruto?" he tried again, using her real name, this time a little louder and still receiving no response from the sleeping girl on the bed.

Seeing no other option, Sasuke stepped into her room, carefully averting his eyes from her bare back, and walked around the bed so he was in front of her. "Dobe, c'mon. It's eight o'clock," he told her, reaching out to gently shake her shoulder in an attempt to awaken her.

She shrugged his hand off, rolling over and mumbling something he was unable to decipher, but he was fairly certain it had sounded like "I don't wanna get up." It was either that or "the dogs are winning the cup." Sasuke decided it was the former, unless she was having some strange dreams.

"Naruto, it's time to get up," he said, his voice loud, clear, and firm, leaving, he hoped, no room for argument. It was the same voice he used when he was at work giving orders to the police squads and it seemed to work with them.

"No it's not," she mumbled, burrowing into the covers and curling up into a ball so that all that was visible was the very top of her head, which was just a blonde spot on the burgundy sheets and comforter.

"Yes. It is," Sasuke retorted, trying to pull the blankets off her head. "We need to go out so I can check and see if things are still going smoothly at the Konoha Military Police Corps."

Naruto pulled the blankets down far enough to glare at him over the top of them. "Then go and I'll just stay here and sleep until you get back," she muttered, wondering why in the world he needed her to go with him to his police station.

Sasuke sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, raising his eyebrows and watching her as she hid once more beneath the blankets. "Naruto, I'm going to be dropping you off at a café so you can get a job there. Some of my friends work down there and they can help you train as a waitress this morning so you can work the afternoon shift today," he explained slowly, knowing that in her sleepy headed state, it would take a moment for things to sink in.

A loud groan came from the blankets and before Sasuke could stop it, a pillow came around and walloped him in the face. He stood there shocked for a moment before his eyes landed upon the form completely covered in blankets on the bed, just the arm she had used to hit him with the pillow sticking out. A soft chuckle rumbled through his chest, surprising both himself and Naruto, who was now carefully peeking out of the blankets. "You aren't mad at me?" she whispered quietly, preparing to duck in case he tried to retaliate.

"No, I'm not mad," Sasuke replied, still speculating why he wasn't angry at her action. Usually, even the slightest bump from a random stranger would tick the Uchiha off, sending said person a deathly glare that would make them wet their pants in a heartbeat, but he held no malice towards the blonde, he even found her childish act…cute? …Wait.. WHAT?

Mentally shaking off the sudden thought out of his head, he walked towards the bedroom door, _her_ bedroom door. He briefly wondered when he had stopped considering this room the spare room and started calling it hers, but he decided not to ponder the issue too long. Instead, he looked back at her over his shoulder, seeing that she was settling into the blankets once more. "Naruto, you have five minutes or you don't get any breakfast."

At the mention of food, Naruto leaped out of the bed and began scrambling around the room, not even thinking about the fact that she was half undressed and Sasuke was still in the room. She turned long enough to see him leaving, shutting the door as he did so and causing her unexplainable fear to set in. "Don't shut the-" she started, then stopped when she noticed that he had just partially shut it for her.

Five minutes later, Naruto found herself sitting on the kitchen counter and staring glumly at the bowl of wheat bran cereal in her hands. "This isn't breakfast," she muttered, picking some up on her spoon and letting it fall back into the milk. "Hell, this isn't even food. I wouldn't feed this to my worst enemy."

Across the kitchen and sitting on a stool pulled up to the bar, Sasuke sat calmly eating the same wheat bran cereal and reading the morning paper. "It's that or nothing," he told her, not taking his eyes off the article he was reading.

"When you said 'breakfast,' I naturally assumed bacon, eggs, pancakes, waffles, French toast, or something like you've been cooking this last week," Naruto complained, taking a bite of her cereal and grimacing. She quickly grabbed her glass of orange juice to wash the horrid taste out of her mouth. "Not this... this... shit."

Sasuke raised his eyes from the paper just long enough to glance at her. "I don't cook a big breakfast on the days I have to work."

Naruto rolled her eyes and managed to choke down a few more bites of the cereal before her stomach began to retaliate. Pouring it down the garbage disposal, she rinsed out her bowl before grabbing a granola bar out of the cabinet, having decided that it would taste much better than that stuff Sasuke called cereal. "If I'm gonna have to eat cereal every morning, we're gonna have to buy something with the word 'sugar' or 'frosted' in the name," she grumbled, biting into the granola bar.

A few minutes later, the two of them were walking to the covered garage the apartment building provided for its tenants and Naruto found herself wondering what type of car Sasuke drove. Even after being there for a week, she still hadn't seen it. Almost immediately, Naruto's jaw dropped when she saw which car the man was climbing into. "You drive a Jaguar?" she asked incredulously, her eyes widening as she circled the black car and stared at the white leather seats.

"Yes, I do. Now get in the car," Sasuke demanded, having to roll down his window to yell at her. He watched as she very tentatively climbed into the passenger seat, checking the bottoms of her shoes before she pulled them into the car. "What are you doing?"

"I don't want to get this thing dirty or anything. I mean, it's a _Jaguar_!" Naruto very carefully closed the door, almost afraid to touch anything in the car for fear of breaking something. But then her eyes fell upon the radio which was still turned off. And before Sasuke could stop her, she had already changed it from his station of classical music to one of those stations that played everything from pop music to rock.

Groaning, Sasuke swiftly drove out of the parking garage and turned onto the road, concentrating on his driving so he didn't have to listen to her choice of music. Turning a sharp curve, creating some exhaustion from his tires in the process, he didn't notice the unnerving silence coming from beside him. He continued driving, keeping his eyes on the road until he felt his passenger staring at him with dilated eyes. "What?" he asked, turning to her as he stopped at a red light in an audible skid.

"You were driving _way_ over the speed limit! We could have died!" Naruto exclaimed, clenching her fingernails to the leather seat. "Drive a bit more slower, teme!"

Ignoring her first comment and deciding not to argue with this girl, Sasuke focused on her second instead. "It's Sasuke," he said coldly, his eyes already back on the road and waiting for the light to turn green.

"Sorry, it just slipped," Naruto muttered apologetically, staring out the passenger side window at the people milling on the streets. A glimpse of a homeless man wandering around reminded her that if it hadn't been for Sasuke, she would still be out there. Feeling a sense of gratitude, she decided she would try and be more gracious towards him and less like the annoyance she knew she was.

"So, have you owned the Konoha Military Police Corps long?" she asked, trying to strike up a conversation with the Ice Prince. There was a long silence and Naruto soon believed that Sasuke either hadn't heard her question or chose to ignore it. And in case it were the latter, she decided not to repeat it for fear of making him mad. But his baritone voice interrupted her thoughts, causing her to turn to look at him as he spoke.

"I've had it for about two years now," he finally answered, turning into the parking lot of the café, Ichiraku Café. "Aniki... I inherited it from him when he died. But I had always known that I would take over eventually. It just came as a shock that it would be while I was so young."

He paused, killing the engine of his car and just sat there in the parking lot with Naruto, hunched over the steering wheel with his head resting atop it. "I was only sixteen and a sophomore at high school. And now, here I am, the owner of the entire police force in Konoha. I wasn't ready for it and it took a lot out of me to handle both it and finish school."

His young passenger twisted around so she was facing him and tentatively reached a hand out, placing it on his shoulders to comfort him. But, feeling him tense up immediately at her touch, she drew her hand back and looked down at the floorboard.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. It must've been really hard on you," she whispered quietly, have afraid he would yell at her. "But look how far you've come. I mean, eighteen years old and you own a Jaguar! That's gotta be something considering that most people who own jags are _ancient_."

Nodding, Sasuke raised his head from the steering wheel and stared blankly out the front windshield. He let out a deep sigh, pushing his emotions back behind his wall once more before he stepped out into the brisk September morning air. He waited for Naruto to follow him before locking and setting the alarm on his car with the remote. "Come on," he called, cocking his head to the side, "let's go introduce you to the manager."

Naruto followed him through the front door, now gazing upon a quaint bistro, circular tables accompanied by matching chairs set throughout the cozy atmosphere. Waitresses dressed in uniform scurried to and from different tables, placing food and refreshments down in front of the customers. Pleasant chatting vibrated in the spacious area, giving off an enjoyable vibe.

Trailing Sasuke through another door, she found herself in a huge kitchen, the walls permeated with the scents of the many dinners cooked there. She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes to better savor the smells, surprised that the place could smell so good when nothing was even cooking. "Sasuke, I already love this place," she muttered, taking another deep breath of various scents. "It smells like your kitchen at the apartment."

Silently laughing at her, he stood off to the side. "You're so childish," he remarked, earning an angry pout from the other. Sasuke brushed past her and beckoned her to follow him towards an elderly cook, his front facing the stove. Only his traditional chef's clothing and hat could be seen, along with the back side of his graying hair. Once a few feet from said person, Sasuke called out, "Teuchi-san."

The man straightened up and turned around, his expression changing to one of reorganization. "Ah, Sasuke! Long time no see! What brings you here to Ichiraku Café? Ordering the usual?"

Sasuke shook his head, placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Actually, I'm here to introduce you to Naruto. She'll like to get a job here as a waitress starting now."

The elder man adverted his attention to Naruto, who lowered her gaze quickly to the tiled floor, feeling a little awkward at the towering stare. She concealed her fidgeting horribly, biting her lower lip in apprehension. When she was about to look up, unable to stand the anxious air any longer, an abrupt shove staggered her forward, only a foot away from the chef. Once regaining her stance, she shot a glare back at Sasuke, who wore a slight smirk on his façade.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Naruto!" Dropping the frown, she faced instead to her new boss, his face grinning with welcome and warmth, a look she never received until recently. It filled her with a sense of belonging, a feeling she wanted to cherish forever. Naruto took full advantage of this invite. "You too, Teuchi-san!" she replied back with a smile, shaking his out raised hand.

Suddenly, a ringtone went off, sending nearby people to look at the owner's direction. Sasuke pulled out his cellphone, looking at the identification screen. He stepped aside, pressing the 'confirm' button on his phone. Naruto tried to catch some of the conversation, but Sasuke's fast, yet fluid talking was making that difficult. Though, she did saw his eyebrows furrowed, followed by a frown. Whatever the discussion was about, Naruto didn't need to hear what they are saying to know that it's not good news.

"Gomen, but I have to leave now. There's an urgent matter that I need to deal with." He then turned his attention to Naruto. "Try not to break anything, dobe." Naruto's eye twitched slightly at the jabbed retort, her face reddening up in anger and embarrassment. She was about to counter his comment, but Sasuke suddenly left briskly, leaving her lost for words. A cough from the manager returned her attention back to him.

"Well, if you'll follow me Naruto, we'll get you assigned to work here." The blonde nodded her head, trailing behind Teuchi, her thoughts about Sasuke's phone call now in the back of her mind. Maybe it's just a new case down at the police station. He did say that he needed to go down there.

They walked into the small office located off the kitchen. He gestured towards the seat in front of his desk and handed her a form and a pen. "I need you to fill that out so you can work here." At her questioning glance, he elaborated. "I need it for filing information and government regulations."

"Okay, whatever you say boss," Naruto replied, grinning as she stared down at the form. While Teuchi was going over various receipts and placing supply orders, Naruto happily filled out the paper, but frowned when she came to the next box. "Uh... Teuchi-san... I don't have a social security card."

"Just put your number in for now. I'm sure Sasuke could get you a copy of your card later," he answered, raising his eyes from the papers he was going over.

"That's the problem... I don't _know_ my social security number." She glanced up at him and watched as he lowered the paper he was holding to his desk and wearily rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry," she whimpered softly.

Shaking his head, he gave her a sympathetic smile. "Just fill out the rest and I'll pay you under the table for now," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "And you could ask Sasuke to go about getting your social security card tomorrow."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock at the mention of pay. "I'm getting _paid_ to work here?" she asked disbelievingly, staring at him intently as though waiting for him to tell her it had only been a joke. But, instead he nodded. "But what if I mess up?"

"Yes, Naruto. You'll be making the same amount as the other waitresses. And don't worry. Hinata and my daughter Ayame could teach you how to be a waitress, so you don't have to worry." He stood up, walking to the office door and calling over his shoulder, "I've got some things to check on. I'll be right back."

* * *

A few minutes later, Naruto was introduced to three of Teuchi's employees: a black haired seventeen year old waitress named Hinata, the robust sandy haired eighteeen year old assistant chef Chouji, and a brunette twenty-three year old waitress Ayame. The news of her association with Uchiha Sasuke spread like wildfire, making greetings easier with positive remarks.

Teuchi had explained to Hinata that Naruto was to be the new waitress and had the shy girl find a uniform for her and begin her training since he, himself, would be busy in the kitchen today. In a timid smile, Hinata quietly ushered Naruto to follow her to where they kept the spare uniforms.

Pulling the smallest pair of the uniform and shoes she could find, Hinata held them out towards Naruto. "H-Here, these m-might work," she told her, trying to judge if they would be small enough.

Naruto took the clothing and shoes out of the girl's hands, careful not to wrinkle the fabric as she entered the bathroom. "These should work fine, Hinata," she reassured through the bathroom door as she pulled the uniform on and found out they did, indeed, fit her. Once she was done changing, she stepped outside, picking at the end of the uniform in aversion. "Does it look okay?"

"I-It looks r-really nice on y-you, N-Naruto-chan," she said, turning and reaching into a cabinet to pull out a pallid apron, accompanied by a coal colored border. "A-And don't f-forget this." As she tied it around her waist, the sleeves drooping lazily off her shoulders. The bands criss-crossed behind her back, tying into a bow to keep the apron from falling off. The identical red and black ribbons swayed back and forth on the right side of her apron.

Raising her eyebrows, Naruto stared at the apron on her for a moment. "Colorful," she muttered, looking down at the splash of white and black. "So… what now?"

"Um… N-Now, I'll s-show you where a-all the t-tables a-are and what their n-numbers are b-before the c-customers start filing i-in." When they were about to reach the main serving room, Hinata, twirling her index fingers, replied, "Y-You must be a v-very good f-friend of Sasuke's if he's willing t-to help y-you."

Naruto halted in her steps after hearing the accusation, flabbergasted. Hinata continued walking, not noticing the fact that Naruto wasn't following her anymore. Only one thought popped into the blonde's mind: What the hell was _that_ suppose to mean?

* * *

After dropping Naruto off at Ichiraku Café, Sasuke drove to the Konoha Military Police Force promptly, all in all maintaining his fluent driving. Kakashi's call made his brows furrowed. His voice sounded grave, a tone he never uses unless in serious circumstances. What is it about this new case that had him worked up?

He parked in his reserved spot, shutting the door and activating his car alarm behind him as he made his way to the looming police station. When he first stepped through the automatic sliding doors, he knew something was wrong. The uproar gossiped by his co-workers turned into hush whispers as soon as they saw him. Scanning the room, he walked down the main aisle with an air of authoritative ambience. No one dared to disrespect or speak up with him in the room. No one, except of course…

"Hey! Sasuke!"

…his annoying-mutt friend.

Inuzuka Kiba, head of the Canine Tracking Unit, came running towards him with his partner Akamaru by his side. Sasuke's face remained expressionless as the two skidded to a halt in front of him, panting for short gasps of air.

"Did you watch the news last night?" Kiba asked instantly as soon as he regained his normal heartbeat rate. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the peculiar question, not something he would have expected to come out of the spiky haired brunette. Of course he hasn't because he had to take care of Naruto while she was still sick in bay, but he wasn't going to be telling him, nor his other friends about her, not just yet. "No. What does that have to do with anything?"

Kiba stopped short on what he was about to say, the Uchiha's answer taking him by surprise. He was sure he had been keeping up with the current updates of turbulence in Konoha, like he does everyday. Now that Kiba knows that he hasn't, telling him about it would be one hell of a challenge, especially since the news was related to him in some way…

"Well,… uh.." He turned to Akamaru for some help, but the dog just growled uncomfortably, not knowing what advice to give to his master.

Sasuke annoyed by the two's irksome exchange, he said, "Send Kakashi, Shikamaru, Shino, and Hyuuga to my office. We have some matters to discuss."

"Oh, ..err, right! Come on, Akamaru!" They sprinted off in search for them. Sasuke saw them off, then continued heading towards his destined location. The moment he entered his office, the wave of conversation rose in an octave or too. Whatever this case is about, it sure has everyone uptight about it. He walked to his desk and accessed his computer; as soon as he did, the door creaked opened, letting in four distinguish people.

The first, Hatake Kakashi, former captain of the Black Ops, or ANBU, short for Special Assassination and Tactical Squad. Next enters Aburame Shino head of the Espionage Division. Then Hyuuga Neji. Their families had always been competing against each other for dominance and power in the past. Now, the rivalry between the two had died down, but the descendents of the two clans still bicker at each other's throats from time to time. Nara Shikamaru, head of the Intelligence Division, came in last, his hands in his pockets with the same lazy expression on his face every time he's been assigned to a new case. Newcomers of the police force would always be baffled on how a sluggish person like him could be in command of a unit, much less the Intelligence one at that. But they guess that's what you call a lazy genius.

Once they were all inside and the door was closed, Sasuke began interrogating the silver haired man. "Okay, Kakashi. What was your call all about?"

"We received word that there were four murders yesterday at 11:48 pm from the victims' neighbors. They heard a disturbance nearby so they phoned us about the strange noises coming from their neighbor's house. When we arrived at the scene, it was already too late. We were about to call you to come down there to help investigate the crime scene, but it was already passed 12 the time we got down there."

Sasuke nodded his head, turning to his computer screen. He clicked on an icon, displaying an entire updated list of cases he's currently and had been working on. He moved his mouse to the digitalized folder at the top of the window. "Are these the pictures from the crime scene?" Sasuke turned to him.

Kakashi nodded. "Feel free to take a look."

He double-clicked on the folder and peered at the screen, looking closely at the pictures. They were the bodies of the victims, obviously, placed in a certain position, and the wounds that he perceived made him grimace.

"Here are the case files." Kakashi came to stand beside him, handing him a few manila folders. Flipping open the case file, he took a look at the profile of the victims, some more gruesome pictures, and the reports.

The victims had been found dead in their home. A father, a mother, and two brothers, one older than the other by two years. Sasuke tried not to feel uncomfortable when he noticed that the bodies of the parents were arranged the same way as was his parent's bodies were when they were murdered. The others noticed the position also, but they dared not uttered the resemblance out loud, for fear of how the last Uchiha might react.

"We have no suspects, right?" Sasuke confirmed.

"We can't think of any," he informed him. "We've followed the most standard procedures but we haven't had any leads." The standard procedures involved questioning the acquaintances and co-workers of the victims to find out if they'd made any enemies who might want to harm them, and such.

"So they all came out clean?" he was surprised. Kakashi nodded. Strange. Usually, crimes like these happened as a means of revenge but here, the victims seemed to have no enemies. Then again, people do commit crimes for their own messed up reasons.

"It's possible we missed something," Shino suggested, the emotion in his eyes hidden by his sunglasses. "There could be dark secrets the victims were hiding that no one else is aware of."

"That's one possibility," conceded Sasuke, "but I'm not sure if these are revenge killings."

He lifted an eyebrow. "Explain."

"Revenge killings occur when there is a case of unrequited love, or if people are involved in something illegal, like drugs," he said. "Here, reports say there was no one who wanted to harm these people. That's probable enough because they were just ordinary people. Unless we find some new evidence, I'm inclined to believe that there's just a psychopath out there who thinks killing is fun."

Neji's lips quirked. "It took you five minutes to reach that conclusion, Uchiha?" he drawled.

Sasuke glowered at the jab. "Well, do you have a better theory then, Hyuuga?" he asked, annoyed.

A thick stack of paper clipped together was thrown in front of Sasuke's desk, making the Uchiha gazed up at the one responsible. "I've written down some of my observations yesterday regarding this case," Shikamaru explained lazily. "You can read through it or not, doesn't really matter to me. This is all too troublesome anyway."

Sasuke kept eye contact with the lazy genius for a moment longer, then reached for his documented notes. He turned several pages before he found something that sparked his attention.

"Position…" he murmured. There was something weird about positions of the wounds…

Frowning, he quickly went back to the photos, gaze lingering on their wounds. On the back of the father, there were two upright slashes, the right one curving downward towards the left. When he looked at the picture of the mother, he discovered a horizontal slash on her upper chest. The older brother had a horizontal line, immediately slanting to the left, scrawled out on his chest, accompanied by a left diagonal slash that sliced across his eyes. Lastly, the younger brother was marked with a left diagonal cut, gashing his left wrist until it was almost severed off. A horizontal line identical to the mother's hacked the boy's throat, indicating where most of the blood lost had came from. The final marking was another diagonal line that curved to the left, only this one longer than the previous one.

His eyes widened.

"Sasuke," he said softly, realization dawning on him. He looked questioningly at everyone in the room, all appearing grave.

"Looks like Neji was wrong in thinking you had lost your touch," Shino deadpanned.

Neji ignored his comment. "It's your name," he said. "Why would the killer write your name?"

Sasuke looked away, his bangs falling like a cascade, hiding his face from his vision. "I think," he said, "the question should be, _how_ does he know about me in the first place?"

Kakashi stared at the monitor once more, then at him. "The first guess that comes to mind is that it's probably someone you locked away?" he suggested carefully.

"Hmm. Maybe." Sasuke probed his elbows on the table, interlacing his fingers together as he turned towards him. "But that's highly unlikely because I interact only with the police force when working on cases. I've never had any contact with the criminals."

"Well, it's already evident that the killer knows you from somewhere," Kakashi titled up his chin. "And he has something against you to carry out these revenge killings."

"So now you think they're revenge killings?" he questioned.

"Well, they're revenge killings, but they're not revenge against the victims." He stared at him. "They're revenge against _you_."

He looked perplexed about that. "Revenge?" he echoed. In deep thought, he asked no one in particular, "Who would want to kill me?"

Neji crossed his arms. "Isn't it obvious? It has to be a criminal you caught." Everybody in the room was staring at him, waiting for him to continue. "There's a chance they've escaped, learned about you and now they just want to take revenge."

Sasuke tightened his fist, once again turning away in frustration. "The killing methods are not familiar at all," he admitted.

Shino turned his attention back to him. "So you don't think this is someone that you caught?" he said in slight monotone.

"No, I really don't think so."

"Well, he obviously knows you." He looked at the photos again.

"It would be a good idea," Sasuke stated, "to look through my old case files." He rotated halfway on his rolling chair, pulling open a drawer from the filing cabinet. "There could be something there that's connected to this investigation."

For the next two hours, the five were immersed in reading through Sasuke's old case files and trying to find a match with the present mystery, looking for any clue that would lead them to the identity of the killer.

"Well, that was pointless," Shikamaru announced once they were done examining the files, rubbing his eyes and putting away the papers and photographs. They were all scattered; it would be a pain to rearrange it, but thankfully, that was not his job. "It doesn't seem like our killer's among these people."

"Hmm," Sasuke was holding up a page in his hand, reading its contents very carefully. "No, doesn't seem like it. Either I've never met this person before or they've changed their style. But even then, I should be able to find some patterns."

Kakashi frowned. It made sense because a person could never completely change their thought patterns. Well, it was possible but was it really worth it to go through so much effort just for revenge? Kakashi thought about this for a moment. Every possibility had been so far exhausted. That left only one thing to be considered…

"Do you think it's someone you know in real life?" he asked him. "Someone who knows you exceptionally well? Someone who wants to finish something they started years ago?"

Sasuke looked at him. "I don't know many people on personal terms," he admitted. "If I considered that possibility, then the killer would have to be either everybody in this room or the rest of my friends. And I don't think that's true." He looked up, putting away the papers. "He wrote my name on the bodies," he muttered.

"Obviously, he's trying to give you a message," Neji said.

"And it's not clear what the message is since all he said was 'Sasuke'," the detective seemed discontent with the dead end.

"_Troublesome,"_ Shikamaru mused, yawning. "Maybe we should call it a day. It's too early to suspect anyone now. All we have is your name and four victims. It still doesn't make complete sense. The information we have so far is too limited to identify him."

Sasuke hate to admit it, but his lazy friend was right. If they want any chance of capturing the murderer, they just have to wait till he strikes again. He nodded his head in agreement after he sighed silently. "Fine. Send all the data from this case to my laptop. I'll be working at my apartment for most of the time. Tell everyone else to keep investigating. And get Jiraiya to help with his investigation too. It'll do him good than just publishing those trash he calls 'masterpieces'."

"Hai!" They all saluted to the young heir, exiting out one by one. Even though they were friends, professional matters must be the number one priority; emotions can't get in the way of work.

Once they all left his office, Sasuke sighed wearily, leaning back on his broad chair. This case was already proving stressful for him, both physically and mentally. Not only that, the photos of the murder scene…

He picked up one of the pictures, the one of the deceased father lying over his dead wife. Sasuke covered his eyes with his already raised arm, feeling a stinging sensation in the back of his eyes that he hadn't felt in years.

* * *

At the dinner rush, Naruto found herself seemingly pulled in five directions at once as she rushed around trying to take orders and serve food at the same time. Of course, Hinata or Ayame did come to relieve her occasionally, or take on another table when yet another party seated in her area. And, after Naruto spilled a whole pitcher of iced tea down a woman's cleavage, Ayame had taken over that table as well.

Finally taking her break, she retreated to the kitchen where Chouji was diligently stirring a pot of noodles on the stove. And at that moment, she heard her stomach rumbled in hunger, making her realized that she hadn't eaten anything since this morning. She snuck up behind him, eyeing the broth like a starving hawk. "Hey Chouji, can I have a taste?" she asked hopefully, causing the cook to yelp, resulting in his ladle flying across the kitchen.

"Give a guy a warning next time, Naruto!" he told her, whirling around with a slightly irritated expression on his face. A grumble was his only answer.

"Heh heh heh…" Naruto rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, making Chouji chuckled, forgetting his anger towards the blonde a few seconds ago. He got a new ladle and a bowl, scooping out some of the prepared noodles. "Sure, Naruto. Let me know what you think."

And Naruto did just that. Since she hadn't eaten in some time, anything would taste good to her, but Chouji's stew was like bliss. After finishing her fifth bowl of noodles in an alarming rate, Naruto smiled cheerfully. "Chouji, that was good! I mean, really, really good. And I should know, I really like food." The assistant chef grinned proudly, soaking in the compliments. It was every chef's pride to have someone praised their cooking skills.

"Hey, what's that stuff anyway?" Naruto asked as she placed the empty bowl in the sink, turning to face her new friend after she was done.

"It's ramen. Miso ramen to be exact. It's the café's specialty," Chouji answered while turning off the stove, not wanting to burn the noodles.

"I can see why it's the specialty here. Ramen's the best thing in the world!" Naruto exclaimed, making necessarily hand motions to emphasis her fact. Though, she didn't consider the fact that she only had it a few times just now.

"Naruto! Order up for table seven!" someone called to her as they placed the food on the counter for her to pick up. Naruto groaned in protest. With one final wave goodbye back at her new friend Chouji, she dragged her feet across the tiled floor to return to the hellish place dubbed 'The Room of Agonizing Torture'.

* * *

At a little passed nine o' clock, Sasuke pulled up into the empty parking lot of Ichiraku Café, excluding the one car parked in the employers' section. The events from this afternoon continued to repeat through his head like a mantra, never ceasing to stop as he walked up to the front door. The closed sign wavered a bit by the mild air conditioner filtering out inside the place, though the lights were still on, most likely waiting for him to pick up Naruto. Gripping the handle, he paused for a brief moment, clenching the bar until his knuckles turned white. He wasn't going to let his past get the better of him. He's solved numerous of cases, all of them gruesome and violent, something that no one should see in their lifetime, and this case was no exception. He wasn't about to chickened out from this assignment, from his past. He _will_ solved this case, whatever the cost may be.

Taking a deep breath and entering the café, he was greeted by the site of Ayame, already dressed in her casual clothes. She sat sitting on one of the chairs yet to be turned upside-down on top of the table, gazing out of the window in thought. But as soon as she heard the chiming bell on top of the door ringed, she sat right-up, turning her gaze towards the Uchiha. "Sasuke!" she greeted happily.

"Sorry to make you and your father wait," Sasuke politely apologized. Ayame waved off the apology, still smiling. "No need to apologize. It was no trouble. Otou-san was planning on staying a little late anyways. He needed to make some last calls on food shipment."

Sasuke nodded his head at the answer, looking around for a certain blonde haired dobe. When he spotted her snoozing away on a table nearby, he could only stare at the outfit she was wearing. Sure, he had seen Hinata, Ayame, and the other waitresses wear the same attire, but on Naruto, he was just.. entranced…

Ayame caught Sasuke's stare, giving off an apologetic smile to the sleeping girl. "Poor Naruto. She was so tired that after we closed, she found the nearest table and collapsed on it. She's been like that ever since. Hinata and Chouji insisted on staying till you come to pick her up, but I told them to go home; they needed to be here on time for tomorrow's shifts."

Her explanation snapped Sasuke out of his staring, adverting his attention to the brunette woman. "Thank you for watching over Naruto for me. You can go tell your father he can close up now."

Nodding her head, she walked towards the office her father was currently in, but not first without turning around and giving the raven a wave off. "'Kay. Goodnight, Sasuke!"

"'Night, Ayame." Sasuke returned the gesture, only less enthusiastically. Once she was out of his sight, he walked over to the slumbering form, shaking the girl awake. "Wake up, Naruto… I'm taking you home," Sasuke replied, hauling her up to her feet. "Go change and we'll leave." He watched as she slowly regained consciousness and scurried off to retrieve the clothes she wore earlier.

Naruto came back a few minutes later, still slightly dazed from her short nap. "Uh… I'm ready to go," she muttered as she saw him leaning against the wall in the café, apparently deep in thought. She, herself, was deep in thought as well, thinking about how this man was more than she first thought he was. There was much more to him than she could see or understand right now. As they walked out to his car, she continued to ponder this, falling asleep on the ride to his apartment.


	7. Animal Instincts

**Summary:** AU Pickpocketing and stealing are the only things Naruto knows to survive in the busy streets of Konoha. But what happens when she stole a wallet from the wrong guy, namely Uchiha Sasuke? What does fate have in stored for these two? SasuFemNaru

**Pairings:** SasuFemNaru, LeeSaku, NejiTen, KibaHina, JirTsu, ShikaTema, ChouIno

**Warnings: **Language, Sexual terms, Violence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

* * *

**Thieving Gets You Nowhere**_  
by Aesura_

_**Animal Instincts**_

* * *

Sunday mornings had been Sasuke's favorite part of the week for as long as he could remember. Even as a boy, he would wait anxiously for that morning to get there. He even liked it better than Saturday mornings, the day most kids would awaken at sunrise just to sit mindlessly in front of the television set and watch cartoons for hours on end. But, for Sasuke, Sunday mornings always meant pancakes, waffles, French toast, or whatever other big, special breakfast his mother would make since that was his father was off from work at the police station and the whole family actually had _time_ to sit down together for a big breakfast.

Of course, now that he was older, Sunday simply meant that Sasuke had the whole day off and to himself, a day when he could just forget about his cases at hand right now. Well, almost to himself. Now that Naruto was living with him, he wouldn't have _that_ luxury anymore.

Sighing, Sasuke hauled himself out of his bed and spared a glance at his bedside clock to notice that it was just after ten, as late as he would allow himself to sleep. And even then, it was only on one day of the week. He sleepily shuffled into the bathroom for his morning routine of brushing his teeth and washing up.

That done, he returned to his bedroom, staring at the dark blue sheets rumpled at the foot of the bed and briefly wondered if he should make the bed. Shaking his head as he left the room, Sasuke decided that the addition of Naruto in his home should have no effect on the state of his bed.

Speaking of Naruto, he had just begun to walk past her room and a movement through the partially open door caught his eye. He turned his head to get a better look and then realized that the movement he saw was her, in only her bra and panties as she rummaged through the closet to find something to wear.

Sasuke found himself rooted to the spot and unable to take his eyes off her as he took in the slightly tan skin of her slender legs, starting at her feet. His onyx vision climbed to her slim waist, no longer having that starved look and then traced up her back to the curve of her breasts as her body turned slightly while she pushed the clothes around in the closet, finally settling on a white dress shirt. While standing there, he very nearly gave into the urge to approach her while she was still in this half-naked state and let his hands roam over her body, taking her curves in their firm grasp, possessing her.

Seeing that she was about to turn, Sasuke somehow found the ability to rein in his desires and hurry past her room, shaking his head as he did so to clear the thoughts of her body melded into his from his mind. He reached the living room and walked through it to the kitchen, where he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat at the counter, his head buried in his hands as he tried to rationalize what had just happened to him.

"Hormones, Sasuke," he muttered quietly under his breath, not wanting _anyone_, especially Naruto, to hear him talking to himself. "It was just hormones. Male sees half-naked female and has the urge to claim her. Dates back to when the first man saw the first woman." He took that first bitter drink of his black coffee, letting the liquid scorch his throat as he continued to think about the actions he almost took. "Just animal instincts."

Rising from the stool he sat upon, he shuffled to the apartment door, opening it to grab the folded newspaper that had been left there hours before. He took another drink of his coffee, nearly choking on it when the vision of Naruto half-naked danced through his head once more. "It's too early for this," he croaked, carrying both coffee mug and newspaper to the blue recliner in his living room.

"Too early for what?" Naruto asked cheerily as she popped into the living room and threw herself down upon the couch, lying on her stomach with her chin resting on folded arms. He noticed that she was only wearing that dress shirt she had pulled out of the closet, which reached about to her mid-thigh. She lifted her legs into the air and swung them up and down, making him notice the white socks upon them.

For the first time in a very long time, Sasuke struggled for his words as he looked up from the newspaper and stared her. Finally, his ears picked up a low argument coming from outside, which quickly turned into a noisy and horrendous fight. "That," he told her, pointing out his balcony to the source of the racket.

Laughing, Naruto jumped up from the couch and went over to the glass door, sliding it open and stepping on to the balcony. She looked down and saw two men arguing outside. Having an idea to stop their bickering, she cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted, "HELLO!"

Just as she had expected, the two had indeed ceased their quarrel, now gazing upward at her direction. Naruto leaned out farther on the balcony, waving her hand to get their attention. Suddenly, a strong grip on the back of her shirt hauled her from her position. Naruto looked at the culprit responsible, only finding heated eyes fired up in anger. "Dobe, do you want to fall?"

Well, at least the two down below stopped fighting. She looked down at the men again, noticing how their eyes were bulging out of their eye sockets and their mouths hanging agape, and… was one of them drooling? As Sasuke gave her one more tug to come inside, she turned to him. "So... uh... with those faces, does that mean they like me or do they just think I'm sexy?" Naruto joked as she finally followed him inside, sliding the door shut behind her.

Sasuke grunted in reply, not wanting to answer that as the image of her in only her underwear was still imbedded in his mind. Averting his eyes from her, he continued to read the newspaper. "I'll fix pancakes after I finish the paper," he told her after a moment or two of silence once they sat down.

While Sasuke was busy reading the newspaper, Naruto would carefully glance up from her hands on her lap to stare at him. She could only hope he would not notice, but she couldn't help it. There he was, sitting in the recliner in only his black boxers, his chiseled chest just begging her to gaze upon it.

Overall, Naruto had to use every ounce of her willpower to keep herself from wandering over to him and running her hands across his chest, just to make sure he was flesh and bone and not some marble statue of a Grecian god. She leaned back against the arm of the sofa, drawing her hands up onto her stomach. In this position, she could stare at him without fear of him noticing because, from his perspective, it would look as though she were staring at her twirling fingers.

Her azure gaze continued to trace every muscle in his abdomen and chest, starting at the waistband of his boxers and traveling up the six-pack he sported and to the pectoral muscles. Lying there, she began to daydream about what it would be like to be held against a body as firm and muscular as that... not necessarily Sasuke's, but _some_ body like that. She had to admit, though, Sasuke did serve as spectacular eye candy. No sooner had that thought crossed her mind than a vibrant red blush crept up her neck and covered her face, causing her to avert her gaze and look elsewhere, no matter how much she enjoyed looking at him.

His sudden movement caught her eye and she saw him rise from his chair, heading for the kitchen with his mug of coffee in one hand and the newspaper in the other. He threw the newspaper down upon the counter and pulled a clear glass mixing bowl from the cabinet, along with a wire whisk. Naruto crept into the kitchen behind him, unintentionally silent. "Need some help?" she asked as Sasuke began to pour some milk into a measuring cup.

Jumping at her voice, he spilt the milk across the counter top and floor, then turned around to glare at her. "Don't be so quiet!" he reprimanded loudly, sternly, and just a bit coldly, and already grabbing a paper towel to wipe up the mess.

"I... I'm sorry..." Naruto whispered quietly, wincing at his tone and looking down at the floor. "I really am." She had already done this to him countless times and she tried not to, but old habits die hard.

Sasuke took a deep breath, trying not to hear the hurt tone in her voice. But it was there, and it was there because of the cold tone in his own voice. "It's okay. You just scared me," he reassured as he cleaned up the spilt milk. "Besides, no use crying over spilt milk," he joked, remembering the old saying.

"Yeah," she said half-heartedly, grabbing another paper towel to finish cleaning up the mess. "So... uh... you need any help or would I just get in the way?"

He nearly told her that she would be in the way, but, realizing that saying that would only hurt her more than the coldness in his voice, he changed his mind. "Can you beat an egg?" he inquired as he cracked an egg into the bowl.

Giving him a genuine smile, she grabbed the bowl and whisk from him. "I just kinda do this, right?" she questioned as she slowly began to drag the whisk through the egg.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows and stared at her, biting back a chuckle as he did so. "Yes, but at that speed, it'll take you a year to beat them. It's like this." He took the bowl back from her and demonstrated how to do it, beating furiously for a second, then stopping and handing the bowl back to her. "See?"

"Like this?" She tried copying his movements only to find that she was having a harder time than she originally thought she would. So intent upon the task at hand, she didn't realize that he had moved behind her and was reaching around to grasp her hand. "Uh... what are you doing?" she asked nervously, fighting the urge to lean back against him.

"Showing you how to beat an egg," he explained, his mouth dangerously close to her ear and his breath lightly blowing her short hair away from her neck. He turned his attention back to bowl in her hands and guided her arm as he helped her to beat the egg. When the egg turned a pale yellow, Sasuke quickly stepped away from her before the soft scent of her skin caused him to do something he would later regret. "That's how you beat an egg."

Naruto bit her lip and tried not to blush, but she could still feel warmth of his body behind her even though he was no longer there. "O-Okay," she stuttered, setting the bowl down on the counter. "What's next?"

Step by step, Sasuke slowly showed her how to make the pancakes, letting her do it herself with only minimal help from him. And, finally, the pancakes were cooking on the griddle he had pulled out of the closet, albeit, they weren't exactly _round _pancakes. They were shaped more like the images from the inkblot tests psychologists used. But, as Naruto reminded him, it wasn't what they looked like, but rather what they tasted like. And they tasted just the same as if he had cooked them himself.

While watching Naruto literally _inhale_ everything edible on the table and barely saving anything for himself, Sasuke's mind drifted back to the night when she had first picked his pocket. And the self-proclaimed title she had used then came floating across his mind. "Why did you call yourself 'The _Great_ Uzumaki Naruto'?" he finally asked when his curiosity got the better of him, a very rare occurrence.

Naruto opened her mouth to answer him, then remembered that she still had a bite in her mouth, so she quickly swallowed it. "I don't know. I just always thought that I was kind of wily and quick, two of my great qualities," she paused for a minute, a large grin coming across her face, "plus, I can kick higher than my head."

At that, Sasuke choked on the bite in his mouth and quickly grabbed his glass of milk to wash it down. He knew she didn't mean anything sexually by that last statement, but with the thoughts of her half-naked having not yet completely left his mind, he couldn't help find it that way. "Is that so?" he finally sputtered out.

"Yeah, you want to see?" she asked suddenly as she set her fork down and began to get up out of her chair. Before he could answer her, Naruto had already struck her pose and was bringing her leg around to kick. But, not only did she forget that she was still clad in only the dress shirt, but also in socks which slipped on the tiled floor and made her fall.

Sasuke watched as she landed with a thud upon the floor and tried not to gawk when he realized that not only did she have the three bottom buttons of her shirt undone, but that it also flipped up when she landed. And that would have been okay, except for the fact that is _revealed her panties, stomach and the bottom of her bra._ Before his eyes began to wander more than they already had, he walked over to her and rearranged her shirt so it covered her. "Are you okay?" he finally asked.

Giggling, Naruto reached up a hand as though she wanted him to help her up. "Yeah, _I'm_ fine. My butt, on the other hand, is gonna be bruised and stuff though," she laughed, reaching down with her other hand to lightly rub her hip.

Taking her hand, Sasuke hoisted her to her feet, not realizing how close to him she would be when he did so. But, there she was, standing nearly up against him, her head just below his chin and her eyes looking up at him. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and willed himself to step away from her. Being that close messed with his senses. "I need to go take a shower," he mumbled, releasing the hand he didn't know he was still holding and leaving her in the dining room by herself.

Naruto sighed and looked down at the clothes she wore, deciding that perhaps her kick would have gone off better if she had worn pants and shoes. And then maybe Sasuke wouldn't have run off like he just did. She figured she was probably a sickening sight to look at with her skinny stick-like arms and legs, not to mention her almost non-existent chest. "Yeah, that's why he ran off," she muttered, beginning to clear the table.

Without even realizing it, so caught up in her own self-defacing thoughts, Naruto had begun to hand wash the dishes, completely disregarding the dishwasher next to the sink. And after the dishes were cleaned, she wandered to her room and put a camisole on beneath her shirt, pulled on a pair of blue jeans, and buttoned the bottom three buttons of her shirt before tucking it in. "At least I look more presentable," she murmured as she looked at herself in the mirror and ran a hand through her tangled hair.

A knock on the door sent her back into the living room and peeking through the peephole, she saw Sakura standing there. She pulled open the door. "Hey, Sakura-chan!" she greeted happily, glad to have someone else to talk to. Sure, it was nice talking with Sasuke, but just talking to the same person day in and day out became monotonous, especially if she does most of the talking.

But, the person standing in front of her was definitely not Sakura, but a platinum haired woman with pale blue eyes. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail, styled so that her bangs covered her right eye. A purple miniskirt with a matching sleeveless midriff hugged her body, emphasizing her womanly curves.

"Oh! You must be Naruto! It's nice to finally meet you. How are you feeling? Sakura and Chouji have been talking all about you! A teenage girl being taken care of by the Ice Prince Uchiha Sasuke. So how did you do it? Did you blackmailed him, or—"

"Hey, Ino-pig." A familiar voice interrupted. "Quit your interrogation. You're scaring her." Sakura stepped out from behind the platinum haired woman, who so rudely got in front of her once the door opened. "Gomen, Naruto. Ino practically forced me to introduce you to her."

"Though you're doing a bad job of it," Ino said a bit impatiently as she and Sakura walked into the apartment. "My name's Ino. Yamanaka Ino."

"Nice to meet you." Naruto said, a bit intimidated. She started thinking why that name sounded so familiar. Sakura did say that her friends wanted to meet her, so…"..Ano, so you're Sakura-chan's friend, right?"

Ino nodded her head. "Yup. We've known each other since our childhood."

"So… how do you know Chouji?"

"'Cause he's my boyfriend, silly! Didn't he tell you?"

Naruto shook her head.

She slouched her shoulders as if all her talkative energy was drained out of her. "That baka.. Wait till I get my hands on him. Honestly…" Ino muttered to herself.

"Um, do you mind telling me how you and Chouji met?" Naruto asked, oblivious to the platinum blonde's sudden change in mood.

Ino's face lit up again, facing Naruto with full force. "Of course not!" She clasped her hands over her heart, remembering the enchanting day as if it was yesterday. She let out a loving sigh. "It all started out two years ago. I was working as a florist in my flower shop when suddenly-"

"And cut!" Sakura put her hand over Ino's face, muffling out her excessive talking. With the lack of oxygen, Ino fumbled her arms around, finally smacking the pinkette's hand away, her face fuming. Naruto just sweatdropped at the exchange from the sidelines. "What the hell, Forehead Girl!"

"We didn't come here to hear about your love life, Ino-pig!" While the two were butting heads at one another, Naruto questioned, "Then what are you here for then?"

The two stopped their bickering, realization dawning on them. "Naruto, I know how bored you must get staying here all the time, so Ino and I thought you might want to come over to my place and hang out for a while," Sakura said excitedly, waving her hands around in the air as she spoke. "I mean, we could watch chick flicks, pig out, girl talk, whatever…"

Smiling, Naruto nodded and went down the hall to holler to Sasuke through the bathroom door that she'd be at Sakura's for most of the day. She barely heard his assent through the door before she went back into the living room and followed Sakura and Ino to her car.

* * *

Around ten o'clock that night, a knock on the door pulled Sasuke away from the murder case he was analyzing on his laptop and he answered it to find Sakura standing there and yawning. He looked behind her, expecting to find Naruto. "What is it, Sakura?" he finally asked when he didn't see Naruto.

"I need you to come collect your roommate," the pinkette yawned, already starting back down the apartment stairs to her car and beckoning Sasuke to follow her. "She fell asleep about an hour ago and I just haven't the heart to wake her up."

"So you want _me _to wake her up?" Sasuke questioned suspiciously as he looked down at the backseat of Sakura's Porsche, where Naruto was sprawled out once the two arrived to their destination.

Rolling her eyes, Sakura gave him a look that said that was the exactly the opposite of what she wanted him to do. "No, I want you to carry her to her bed. If she's falling asleep like this all the time, then she apparently needs to get more sleep. Which means I don't want to wake her up when she _is_ asleep," the medical student explained slowly, as though she were speaking to a very young child. That, or a very stupid man.

Giving in to his friend, Sasuke scooped Naruto up into his arms. She immediately rolled into him and pressed her body against his. Sakura walked with them up the stairs and to his door, holding it open and then shutting it for him after muttering a tired 'goodnight.'

Sasuke carried her down the hall to her room, trying in vain to ignore the two mounds of flesh that pressed against him. He really didn't need to be thinking like this _again_. Sighing, he laid her on the end of the bed so he could turn her covers down and place her beneath them. But, seeing the flannel shirt still upon her, he worried that she might become overheated during the night. He gently sat her up and began to unbutton her shirt, both relieved and disappointed to find that she now wore a camisole beneath it. He briefly toyed with the idea of taking her pants off as well, but finally decided that would be too much of an invasion of her privacy and left them on her. After pulling the covers up to her chin, he watched as she snuggled into them, her face tugged into a small smile, making an audible mewling noise at the comforting softness.

Certain thoughts popped up into his head, but he quickly shook it to clear his thoughts and turned to leave her room, nearly shutting her door all the way before he remembered how panicked she became whenever he did that. He made a mental note to ask her about that sometime, curious as to why something as simple as closing a bedroom door would panic someone.

Outside her door, he leaned against the wall and began to wonder what he was going to do if what he called his 'animal instincts' this morning kept acting up. He decided he would simply have to keep a tighter rein of control over himself. That's all there was too it. Control. Controlling himself. Controlling his 'animal instincts.' But what if they were more than simple 'animal instincts'? He chose not to answer that question.


	8. Movie Thriller

**Summary:** AU Pickpocketing and stealing are the only things Naruto knows to survive in the busy streets of Konoha. But what happens when she stole a wallet from the wrong guy, namely Uchiha Sasuke? What does fate have in stored for these two? SasuFemNaru

**Pairings:** SasuFemNaru, LeeSaku, NejiTen, KibaHina, JirTsu, ShikaTema, ChouIno

**Warnings: **Language, Sexual terms, Violence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

* * *

**Thieving Gets You Nowhere**_  
by Aesura_

_**Movie Thriller**_

* * *

Friday afternoon rolled around and by four o'clock that evening, Naruto was exhausted. While Sasuke walked through the doorway of his apartment, she merely stumbled in behind him. Working at Ichiraku Café all week had taken its toll upon her. Even though it hadn't been that busy of a week, she was still adjusting to the whole waitress thing. She threw herself down on the sofa and closed her eyes, thinking back to Monday morning when Sasuke had awakened her that morning with the news that she would be going back to work that day.

At first, she had panicked, her grip on the blanket as she lay in bed tightening until her knuckles turned white. Remembering what had happened on Saturday, her first day, she found her breath beginning to come in short gasps. And just as she was about to tell him that she couldn't go back there, that she would break down if she had to, he had apparently noticed her near anxiety attack and sat on the edge of her bed.

He had slowly explained to her that it was his fault that she had had so much trouble on her first day there since it _was_ Saturday, the busiest day of the week at the restaurant. Very calmly, he informed her that for most of the week, the main business of Ichiraku Café was simply serving high school students, where the only thing the waitresses had to do was mainly take orders for drinks and pastries. Well, that and the occasional dinner order when a customer would rather not eat sweets.

Finally, Naruto had decided to give it another try and hesitantly entered the restaurant after Sasuke had dropped her off there that morning. She was still half-afraid that she would find that he had been lying to her about it just to get her to agree to come back. But, she found that he was, indeed, telling the truth. And she made it through that first day of the week without spilling anything on anybody.

The rest of the week had gone smoothly as well, but on Friday morning, Sasuke had told her that he informed Teuchi to let her off around two o'clock, since it starts to become busier after that with all the Friday night dates. And, true to his word, at two o'clock precisely, Teuchi had called her off the floor and had one of the others take over the few tables she still had. But, surprisingly, instead of just going home in a cab, Sasuke had droved down to picked her up, taking the rest of the day off as well, claiming that they needed to stop for groceries anyways.

So, now at around four o'clock, she was sitting on the couch while Sasuke put away the groceries in the kitchen. She turned her head to the side and stared at him, feeling a sudden wave of gratitude wash over her. Not only did this man taken her in off the streets and gave her a job, but he was also made sure this job didn't stress her out too much.

Before she knew what she was doing, she was in the kitchen and standing in front of Sasuke with a small smile on her face. "Tem- er, I mean, Sasuke, I just wanted to say thank you for making me go back to work this week," she said nervously, moving from foot to foot while she looked down at the floor. She slowly raised her eyes and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him in a light hug.

Sasuke stood there shocked for a moment, feeling her small body pressed up against his and her arms around his waist. It took nearly a full minute before he lifted his arms and placed them around her, hugging her back. It had been so long since he had actually hugged someone, actually wanted to hug someone. But, here he was, standing in his kitchen with this girl holding onto him. "You're welcome," he murmured as he slowly drew away from her, dropping his arms back to his sides.

Together, they finished putting away the rest of the groceries. "Hey, Sasuke. When can I come down to your police station?" Naruto asked as she pulled open the bag of potato chips she was supposed to be putting away and began munching on them. "You know, so I could meet the rest of your frie—"

"No," Sasuke immediately snapped at her as he took the chips away from her and closed the bag, much to her disappointment. He didn't want her to get involved in this investigation. With the murderer targeting him, they'll probably be going after Naruto if they ever found out that she's an acquaintance of his. That fact is now confirmed from the second massacre yesterday…

. . .

_Sasuke still had a hard time believing that someone could do something like this. Especially if that someone was aiming to get to him somehow._

_But what Sasuke was actually tense about was what the killer's next message would be. He was already greatly disturbed by his name being on the victims' bodies and even after days of thinking, he still hadn't figured out who the murderer is. He'd boggled himself enough with the first four murders, wondering why his name had been on the corpses. At first, he'd thought that someone was taunting him, making fun of him, but the positions of how the parents were placed, the same exact position from his parent's murder, agitated him because he still didn't understand what it could mean. He hated waiting helplessly as much as the next person but the only way he could comfort himself was that his patience and sacrifice would gradually pay off._

_Just then, he heard Kakashi's voice, pulling him out of his reverie and bringing him back to reality as the silver haired man pointed to the blinking laptop screen which signaled a video transmission request. He and Kakashi were the only ones in his office today. The rest were at the other end of the building, having a closer look at the corpses. Maybe they could pick up something from a close-up view than they could from just pictures…_

_The young Uchiha accepted the webcam invitation and soon, he found himself looking at an autopsy room full of forensic scientists, with Neji, Shino, and Shikamaru examining the corpses in the background. Jiraiya sat at the other end of the laptop, apparently the correspondent of the investigation taking place. He's one of the top detectives in the Konoha Military Force, who's also in command of the spy network operating incognito throughout the city._

"_Sasuke," said Jiraiya, clearing his throat. "There have been four murders."_

_Sasuke spoke into the miniature microphone probed up on a stand. "What are the details?"_

"_Same as ever," Jiraiya sounded tired. "The victims were found in their homes. No visible wounds but we found the bodies placed in certain positions."_

_The two in the office tensed again at this new piece of information. They exchanged a look. Sasuke spoke to Jiraiya. "Show me the photos of the crime scene."_

_Jiraiya muttered something incoherently about younger brats having no respect before transmitting the pictures. There were two or three photos of each victim, taken from a different angle, and in some, the bodies had already been removed with a white chalk outlining the position in which they had been found. As they had stated, there were no visible wounds on the corpses._

"_Estimated time of death?" he questioned._

"_Eleven p.m." Jiraiya tiredly rubbed the corner of his eye. "The autopsy reports are due in an hour but we're already theorizing that they were probably poisoned. Maybe induced internal bleeding."_

"_Hn," Sasuke said gravely, moving aside as Kakashi leaned forward to take a better look at the images, brow furrowed in concentration._

"_Are you sure there are no visible wounds?" he asked. Dismally, Jiraiya shook his head._

"_I'd strongly urge you not to release any details of these deaths to the media," Sasuke instructed. "Until we know what we're dealing with here, the public needn't be informed that there's a serial killer on the loose. Notify everyone of this matter."_

"_Understood," Jiraiya agreed. "I'll contact you in an hour once the autopsy reports arrive."_

"_Very well," said Sasuke, signing off for now. He saw Kakashi looking at him in query._

"_What?" he said bluntly._

"_Why wouldn't you want the public to be warned?" Kakashi asked, curious to know what compelled the young Uchiha to enforce such a thing. Usually, he'll be warning the people as though there was an outbreak of a deadly disease and informing them on how to treat themselves._

_Sasuke remained patient. That had become hard as of late. "Think about it, Kakashi," he reasoned, thinking that he could really do with a cup of black coffee at the moment. "We know nothing about the murderer or his methods of killing. Or his motives for killing."_

"_He seems to be very interested in you," Kakashi pointed out._

_He paused. "I'm not sure how that knowledge will benefit the public," he stated. "Furthermore, he's picking up the victims almost randomly and we have no idea who he'll target next. We wouldn't want the send the public in mass panic."_

_Kakashi cupped his hand around his chin, pondering about the outcomes before agreeing. "No, I guess not. …Then we're waiting for him to slip up?" he said as if he were talking to a child._

"_Hai. Sooner or later, he'll make a mistake," he agreed. "So there are no wounds to draw clues from. Therefore, we have to rely on other details." He pointed at the photos with his index finger._

"_The positions of the bodies," he immediately said. Kakashi leaned forward, tilting his head from side to side to get the real picture._

"_The bodies…" Kakashi muttered, his brows furrowing. He quickly brought out a pen and a piece of paper and wrote V. "Look at how the two brothers are positioned, almost mirroring each other."_

"_And on purpose," Sasuke concurred. "The killer's obviously giving us another message."_

_Kakashi looked down at the piece of in his hand. "V," he mumbled. "Could it be a reference to Roman numerals?"_

_Sasuke pressed his chin onto his intertwined fingers. "The number five," he muttered thoughtfully._

"_Could it be referring to the days of the week?" he suggested. "As in 'Friday'?"_

_The Uchiha thought about it, trying to figure out all the possibilities. "Or it could just be a…a cipher?"_

_Kakashi frowned at this. "A cipher?"_

_Sasuke didn't answer. He wasn't sure. What he was certain of was that he had never been so perplexed in his life Kakashi spoke again. "I think that it's a direct challenge to you," he stated. "Not a cipher, just a message."_

"_Five as a stand-alone message makes little sense," he pointed out a little irritably._

"_Maybe," he granted. "But if we include the positions of the husband and wife," Kakashi pointed to the parallel corpses lying to the right of the brothers, "and with the clue left in the last murder scene, then the message reads 'Sasuke, seven'."_

_The suggestion caught him unaware. He blinked at him several times as the message – the incomplete message – sunk in._

_Sasuke, seven._

_Why did it sound so familiar?_

_He kept his expression stoic. "That makes more sense," he admitted. "But still not enough to go on."_

"_But it makes more sense," he emphasized. "More than the day Friday or a cipher."_

_Sasuke looked at him. "I think we should keep all possibilities in mind for now," he said, not wanting to admit defeat. Nevertheless, he felt a sudden uneasiness germinating in him like a seed in the darkness of the soil._

_Sasuke, seven._

_Where had he heard it before? Why did it keep reminding him of something long ago, something he couldn't put his finger on?_

"_Sasuke?" It was Kakashi's voice again. He met his gaze and didn't waver. He still hasn't grown uneasy of the raven's stoic stare._

"_Is there a chance this guy's someone you knew before?" he wanted to know._

_Once again, Kakashi had been able to catch him with his sharp intellect, he noticed with an inward smirk. Never could get anything past him indeed._

"_Not really," Sasuke lied. He wasn't yet comfortable in revisiting his past and he wanted to avoid it unless it was absolutely necessary. Kakashi narrowed his eyes. He didn't look like he believed him. The autopsy reports were given to Jiraiya in an hour, as promised. Sasuke quietly watched through the webcam, listening intently as the other man read them out while Kakashi took diligent notes beside him._

"_That's very interesting information," he commented once the reading was done. Well, at least now they had something more to work on. He would hate to find that their research had come to a dead end. "It seems that our suspect used potassium cyanide to poison his victims."_

"_Yes," said Jiraiya. "Also, the tiny puncture wounds on the victims' wrists suggest that it must have been injected."_

"_But there were no signs of struggle," Sasuke pointed out. "Our killer must have somehow coerced the victims into take the shots. And you're still sure that the victims were not on any kind of drugs?"_

"_Positive," Jiraiya affirmed. "None of the autopsy reports have shown drug abuse of any kind." The case was becoming more confusing by the minute._

"_Maybe the killer was someone they knew and trusted. There's a chance that this could have been done by someone they were familiar with," Kakashi proposed._

_Jiraiya agreed with the theory. "It could be possible," he nodded. "We'll check it out immediately."_

"_Uchiha," someone interrupted. "I have some information that might be valuable to this investigation." It was Neji who spoke as he walked over to face the computer screen. "I done some background searching on the two families to see if their deaths are the caused of any bad blood," he said. "It turns out that the older brothers from both families happened to friends, best friends. The older son of the first murder was older than the other by three years. What do you make of this?"_

_If possible, Sasuke would've turned paler than he already was._

"_In my opinion," he replied, choosing to lie through his teeth, "it's nothing more that the culprit playing mind games with us. He wants us to think that he's leaving us encrypted messages with all these seemingly meaningful clues. They amount nothing." Was he trying to convince the detective or himself?_

_Neji, nor the others listening in, didn't seem to be very convinced by Sasuke's answer. Nevertheless, he simply nodded his head slightly in acceptance._

_"Domo arigatou," Sasuke said formally. "That will be all for today." He signed off. Kakashi was giving him a weird look when he turned to him. He raised a questioning eyebrow, preparing himself for a lecture about the ethics of lying_.

"_No, no, I'm not saying anything," he said while raising his hands halfway in a mock show of surrender, already sensing what had been on his mind. "I know why you didn't tell them about your theory." After all, Uchiha Sasuke, the famous detective with a very strong analytical skill, was supposed to solve their problems, not be the cause of them._

"_Right." Sasuke glanced at the pictures again before putting them away and making to leave._

"_Are you leaving?" Kakashi quirked an eyebrow up at the Uchiha's peculiar behavior. Usually, he'll work in his office in solitude once the new evidence was laid out in front of him, working till it was late at night. The man glanced at the digital clock in Sasuke's office. It read 1:50 p.m._

"_Well, yes," he answered almost… uncomfortably? "I.. have some errands to run. Inform me if there's more news on the case."_

_Kakashi watched him walk out the door, a non-believing look on his face. Looks like Sasuke was keeping more than one secret… and this one wasn't related to the case…_

_. . ._

His answer took her aback and her eyes narrowed. "Why not?" Naruto demanded to know as she grabbed the bag of chips back from him. When Sasuke didn't answer her question, she glared at him, which came out to be more of a pout than a glare. Even when she was young, she didn't like being ordered around.

Instead, he sighed. "And how much can you _eat_?"

"I dunno... I just eat until I'm not hungry anymore," she muttered around a mouthful of chips as she carried the bag into the living room and sat back down on the sofa, forgetting about their entire conversation from before…for now. Grabbing the remote she began flipping through the channels, about to settle on a cartoon when Sasuke stopped her as she passed by the news. She let out a soft groan then tossed the remote over to him, trying to watch the news and not fall asleep at the same time.

After a few minutes of the news, Sasuke looked over at his roommate, who was simply staring off into space and mindlessly eating her chips. He watched as she got up suddenly and walked over to his bookcase, running her finger along the book spines but not taking anything down. She sighed loudly then plopped back down on the sofa, grabbing that morning's paper which had been carelessly tossed onto the coffee table when he had finished with it. Spending a few minutes flipping through it, she laid it back down and leaned against the arm of the sofa, her hands folded atop her stomach and her eyes closed. "Restless, are we?" he chided as she jerked herself onto her side and stared at the TV.

"No, I'm just bo–," she stopped short, cutting her words off as she realized what she was about to say, that she was bored. But she wondered if perhaps it would be seen as ingratitude if she _did_ say that she was bored. Would he think her constantly needing entertainment? "No, I'm fine," she finally said as she tried to find interest in the anchorman's dry voice or the various weather patterns of the area that the weatherman was explaining.

"Naruto, it's okay if you're bored," Sasuke told her when he realized what she had really wanted to say. He tossed the remote back over to her, getting up as he did so and grabbing a random book from the bookcase. "You don't have to lie about not being bored. I know that there's not much to do around here. I even get bored here sometimes."

For a few minutes, both of them sat there in silence while Naruto flipped endlessly through the channels. But, when she started through them for the third time and _still_ hadn't found anything to watch, Sasuke put his book down and went to the other room, dialing Sakura's cell phone number, since the rest of his friends are probably at work. Several ring tones rang as he waited patiently for her to answer her phone. When she didn't answer, he redialed again. Just when he had given up and was about to hang up the phone, someone answered through the receiver.

**_"What?"_** she asked in exasperation, surprising Sasuke by her tone of voice. In all the years he had known her, it was very rare that she would be anything _but_ sweet and kind when talking to him. He had never expected to hear this side of her.

"Uh... Naruto's bored and I was wondering what I should do about it..." he stammered, finding himself at a loss for words when talking with this Sakura.

Sasuke heard her groaning in frustration, clearly annoyed right now. He was just glad that he was not talking to her in person right now. Few lived to tell the tale. _**"Sasuke-kun, I am in the middle of a **__**very **__**dirty phone call with my boyfriend. Please do not interrupt me,"**_ she muttered. _**"Look... I don't know. Take her to the movies or something!"**_

Before Sasuke had a chance to say anything, Sakura had disconnected their conversation while he simply stood there listening to the beeping sounds in shock. Not _only_ had she been rude to him (which never happened before from the years that they known each other), but she was also having a dirty phone conversation with her boyfriend? This was completely out of character for the Sakura that Sasuke knew, and the poor young man was at a complete loss for words.

He wordlessly entered the living room, shutting his cell phone shut before walking over to the couch. Placing his hands on the back of it, he leaned over it to stare down at Naruto, who was lying on her side and watching a cooking show. To him, she still looked tremendously bored. Sighing, he decided that perhaps Sakura had the right idea. "Come on," he finally said, getting her immediate attention. "Let's get out of here."

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked as she sat up and stared at him, running a hand through her short hair to help with the loose tangles.

Sasuke picked up the paper, flipping it to the movie section and began reading the different movies and times to himself. "I thought we'd go see a movie or something," he muttered, his brows furrowed as he glanced once more at the movies listed. "That is, if it's okay with you..."

"Yeah, I'd love to go! …I mean, I've never been to one," she explained, reaching down to pick up the sneakers she had discarded earlier and pull them onto her feet. She felt Sasuke staring at her, so she turned around and gave him a questioning glance. "What?"

"You've _never_ been to the movies?" he asked in disbelief, slowly setting the newspaper down upon the back of the couch as he continued to stare at her.

She nodded, going back to putting her shoes on and tying the laces. "Yeah, I know. The orphanage manager did take us to go see a movie when I was three, but she wouldn't let me go…," she paused, dropping her foot to the floor and putting her finger on her mouth while she thought about it. "Or was it when I was two? No, it was three because it was after the other kids blamed me for breaking an antique vase… Yeah, that's right."

Slowly shaking his head while she continued to ruminate on whether it was when she was two or three, Sasuke picked up the paper and glanced back down at the movie times again. "So, what kind of movie do you want to see?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow as he looked back down at her.

"Whatever you want to see," she replied, standing up and starting back towards her bedroom to run a brush through her hair, but she stopped at the hall entrance. "I mean, this was your idea after all and I have no clue what's playing and stuff... So, just pick whatever you want to see. I'm not picky about it."

Sasuke watched as she ran down the hall, trying to decide if it would be better to take her to the horror movie or the romantic comedy showing. But, considering the way his thoughts had been going concerning the blonde teenager lately, he finally decided that it would be best to _not_ see anything with romantic undertones.

Just as he picked a movie and showing, Naruto walked back into the room, obviously ready to go as she looked like she was only waiting for him. "Is_ Ringu_ alright with you?" he asked, wanting to make sure it would be okay with her.

"I told you, whatever you want to see is fine with me," she told him, looking up at Sasuke as she did so. "So, are you ready to go?"

He nodded and grabbed his jacket, but stopped when he realized that Naruto didn't have one of her own. So, he handed her his black leather jacket and pulled out an older blue jean jacket for himself. "While we're out, we're going to get you a coat and jacket," he told her as he pulled his on.

"You don't–" Naruto started to protest, giving up when she saw the stern look on his face that left no room for argument. "I'm fine without one, you know. Just a couple of sweatshirts and I'll be plenty warm."

Sighing, Sasuke opened the apartment door and ushered her out, making sure to lock the door behind them. "Naruto, a couple of sweatshirts aren't going to be fine when it gets to be the dead of winter," he muttered as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I just hate that you're spending so much money on me when I'm not really doing anything in return," she mumbled as she followed him to the parking garage. "I mean, you won't even let me pay you for room and board now that I'm actually _getting _a paycheck."

Sasuke stopped walking and turned to look at her, placing his hands on her shoulders as he did so. "Would you feel better if I started giving you a list of chores or something to do around the apartment?" he asked seriously as he stared into her cerulean eyes.

"Actually, yeah, I would. I would actually feel like I'm good for _something_ and not just a worthless street rat," she answered in all honesty as it was the way she had felt for most of her life, even _before_ she got kicked out from the orphanage. From almost as far back as she could remember, she always had this sense of worthlessness about her, as if she could do nothing right.

"Naruto, you aren't worthless," Sasuke sighed, taking his hands off her shoulders before they pulled her to him in an embrace... something he had been fighting all week long. "You just haven't found your place yet."

Looking down at the floor, the teenager struggled with her words for a moment before she looked back up to Sasuke. "Um... could you help me find my place?" she asked nervously, her eyes moving from his to look at the wall.

"Yes, Naruto. I'll help you find your place," he whispered, wondering for the umpteenth time why he was committing so much time and energy to helping this girl.

* * *

The movie theater _Ringu_ was showing in happened to be located within the same mall that Sakura had taken Naruto the week before. They arrived with plenty of time to buy her coat and jacket before the movie would start, which they had already done. And, now, Sasuke was standing in front of a store window as he waited for Naruto, who had told him in no uncertain terms that if she didn't find a restroom soon, her bladder would explode.

The window he was looking into belonged to a small eccentric type store, one of those places that you could find the strangest things from anything to everything. He looked down at his watch, wondering what was taking Naruto so long when she was just suddenly standing there beside him, having, once again, made no noise when she approached him. And, per usual, Sasuke jumped in surprise. "That's it!" he exclaimed, grabbing her arm and dragging her into the store. "We're getting you something to wear so you'll make noise when you walk."

At first, Naruto had thought he was angry with her, but then she noticed the small smile on his face and realized that he wasn't after all. "Honestly, I don't do it on purpose," she explained, pulling out of his grasp to look around the store, eyes widening at all the various knick-knacks, throw pillows, and scarves, among other things.

"I know you don't and that's why we're getting you this," he told her, holding up a red collar with a small golden bell sewed at the center. He gently shook it, making the bell jingled a soft tinkling noise. "See? You won't be able to sneak up on me anymore."

Naruto reached out and carefully took it from his hands. The silky texture from the ribbon ends weaved effortlessly through her finders like it was made out of water. She bobbled the centerpiece slightly with her index finger, the jingling sounds coming out in an audible pitch. "Yeah, this will work," she muttered to herself, handing it back to Sasuke.

Walking to the back of the store, they handed the collar to the cashier, who kept glancing back and forth between Naruto and Sasuke. After ringing up the purchase, he started to put it into a bag, but was stopped when Sasuke told him not to and tied it firmly, but gently around Naruto's neck after pulling the tag off of it. "There. Now you can't sneak up on me anymore tonight, either," he said as he counted out the cash for their purchase.

Just as they were leaving the store and had reached the exit, the voice of the cashier floated to their ears and stopped Sasuke in his tracks. "I swear, these pimps keep hooking younger and younger ones!" the middle-aged cashier had muttered, believing that they were too far away to hear him.

Standing beside Sasuke, Naruto felt him visibly stiffen, and just as he was about to turn and re-enter the store, she stopped him by gingerly putting a hand on his arm. "Sasuke, just ignore him. I'm used to being called a lot worse than that," she whispered, gently pulling him back into the mall.

"But he just _implied_ that you're–" Sasuke started but was interrupted by Naruto.

"Yes, Sasuke, I know what he was just implying and I'm telling you, I'm used to it. I've heard it for years now. It's okay," she reassured, her hand still on his arm as she tugged him in the direction she believed the movie theater to be. "Let's just go see the movie."

Sighing, Sasuke gave in to her and allowed himself to be pulled away from the store. "Alright," he finally muttered.

They continued to walk the length of the mall, coming across the movie theater at the very end and immediately got into line. Looking around, Sasuke noticed all the couples that apparently on dates as they had their arms around each other and stealing kisses while they waited to buy their tickets. He suddenly became very aware of the fact that Naruto's hand was still holding onto his arm and he very carefully pulled it out of her grasp, using that hand to pull his wallet out so she wouldn't be offended.

The line moved quickly and it wasn't long before Sasuke had purchased their ticket, drinks, and a large bucket of popcorn that Naruto had insisted on and then led her through the complex to the theater their movie was showing in. Seeing that there were few people in the theater to see this particular movie as it had been out for awhile, they had their choice of seats and Sasuke allowed Naruto to chose since this was a relatively new experience for her. She chose the back row as it was close to the door. Wanting to be near an exit in case she had to make a break for it was a hard habit for her to break.

After sitting down, Sasuke, out of habit, put his arm around the back of Naruto's chair, being careful to keep it on the chair and not on her. The previews passed quickly and the movie soon started, the popcorn already being half gone as Naruto had been constantly munching on it since he had bought it. Sasuke, himself, had only taken a few bites of it.

It wasn't long before the first scary scene of the movie began, and Naruto, unused to the tension that came with these movies, instinctually hid her head in Sasuke's chest and griped his jacket. "Tell me when it's over," she muttered as she took another peek at the screen and then quickly hid her eyes once more.

Trying not to laugh, Sasuke brought his arm down from the back of her seat and gently lowered it onto her back, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. "I didn't think you'd get scared so easily," he whispered jokingly as he lowered his head closer to her ear, not wanting his voice to carry over to the few other movie-goers in the theater.

Naruto peeked out from his jacket long enough to give him a mock glare and take a glance at the movie screen. "Yeah, well I'm not used to this stuff, you know," she muttered, hiding her head once more. But, she noticed that the feel of his arm on her back seemed to have helped calm her down, making her feel strangely relaxed.

"Okay, it's over," Sasuke whispered after the scene had finished and it moved on to the next part of the movie. Yet, even after she had removed her head from his chest and was sitting against the back of her seat once more, he kept his arm around her and was still giving her shoulder small squeezes occasionally.

As the movie progressed and the scary scenes multiplied, Naruto found herself hiding her head more and more often in Sasuke's chest. Finally, she succumbed to the temptation and left her head resting against it, only having to turn it slightly when she was scared. But, with his arm still resting around her, she became scared less easier and really didn't need to hide her head as often. She just _wanted _to keep her head there and, since he didn't seem to be objecting, she did leave it there.

The movie ended and the credits rolled past, but Naruto and Sasuke were still sitting there, her head still resting on his chest and his arm still around her. But, when the ushers came in to clean up the mess left behind, she lifted her head and stood up, stretching as she did so. "Arigatou, Sasuke. I've never actually seen a movie and I really had a lot of fun," she told him as she waited for him to get up as well.

"Hn." He started towards the exit, then stopped and turned to her. "You want to get a hamburger or something before we head back?"

Forgetting about the huge bucket of popcorn she had just finished off, Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "I'd love to!" she exclaimed, bounding up the aisle and beating him to the door. "I am absolutely _starved_!"

Sasuke followed her out of the theater, wondering the whole time how anyone as tiny as her could eat so much food in such a short period of time. "How did I know you were going to say that?" he muttered sarcastically as he they headed back into the mall and towards the parking lot exit.


	9. Incognito

**Summary:** AU Pickpocketing and stealing are the only things Naruto knows to survive in the busy streets of Konoha. But what happens when she stole a wallet from the wrong guy, namely Uchiha Sasuke? What does fate have in stored for these two? SasuFemNaru

**Pairings:** SasuFemNaru, LeeSaku, NejiTen, KibaHina, JirTsu, ShikaTema, ChouIno

**Warnings: **Language, Sexual terms, Violence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

* * *

**Thieving Gets You Nowhere**_  
by Aesura_

_**Incognito**_

* * *

The morning sun shining across the room and falling upon her face caused Naruto to wrinkle her nose in distaste and roll over, taking her face out of the offending sunlight. But, the room continued to grow brighter which forced her to slowly open her eyes. Tiredly putting her arms into motion, Naruto lifted her blankets over her head, trying to go back to sleep at the same time.

But, a glance at the clock on her bedside table, which revealed it to be just after eleven o'clock, prevented sleep from reclaiming her. She jerked straight up in the bed, looking confusedly around the room as she ran a hand through her short blonde locks. "Okay... why didn't Sasuke-teme wake me up for work?" Naruto wondered aloud.

Clad in her nightgown of choice, a long blue dress shirt she had taken from Sasuke's closet the week before and a pair of grey socks, Naruto wandered into the kitchen with Kyuubi in hand. She didn't want to feel completely alone, especially with Sasuke out of the apartment. A sheet of paper stuck to the refrigerator caught her eye as it was usually bare of anything but a few magnetic clips. Her eyes ran across the page, reading the note left in Sasuke's smooth handwriting.

_Naruto,_

_Since it's Saturday, you're getting the day off. I already informed Teuchi-san and he said it was okay. I'll be at the police station until after ten o'clock. Make yourself at home... just don't break anything. And unless you call and tell me otherwise, I'll be bringing home Chinese for a late dinner._

_Sasuke._

"I guess it's just me today," she told to no one in particular, sticking the note back on the refrigerator after reading it. Just as she was about to leave the kitchen and get dressed, an almost evil glint came into her eye. "Yeah... just me..." she muttered thoughtfully before backing up against the cabinet and running towards the opposite wall, sliding across the rest of the tiled floor when she was halfway there.

The teenager continued to slide across the floor, going farther and farther each time, until she finally hit the wall face-first and fell onto her backside with the last slide. "I'm okay," Naruto mumbled as she climbed to her feet, gingerly rubbing her now bruised hip. She picked up Kyuubi, the unfortunate victim of the little incident, and held it out till they were eye-leveled.

"Okay... now what, Kyuu?" she asked her stuffed animal, who stared back at her with a look that seems to be saying she was insane. "And don't look at me like that. Just because I'm talking to you doesn't mean I'm crazy." Naruto thought about what she had just said, beginning to shake her head slowly while running a hand down her face. "Okay, so maybe I _am_ crazy for talking to you."

Then her stomach let out a long, rumbling growl. "I'm kinda hungry," Naruto admitted sheepishly. Putting Kyuubi down on the living room couch first, she then sauntered her way to the kitchen again.

Pulling open the refrigerator door, Naruto stared into its contents, not finding anything that really appealed to her at the moment. She stood in front of the open door, shivering slightly as the cold air moved across her skin, while she thought about what she _really_ wanted for breakfast this morning... or lunch, really, considering that it was nearly noon by now.

Waffles. She wanted waffles. Just last week, she had watched Sasuke make waffles one morning and he seemed to have no trouble at all doing it. So, thinking to herself, Naruto decided that she, too, could manage to make waffles. After all, how hard could it be? Trying to remember what all Sasuke had put into them, she pulled out the carton of milk and a few eggs before moving over to the pantry where he kept the flour and other dry goods.

Half an hour later, the teenager stood in front of the waffle iron and impatiently waited for the first waffles to be done. She wasn't sure exactly how long they should cook as she didn't have a recipe, which had made making the waffle batter an experiment for her. But, she was confident that she had made them pretty much the same way as Sasuke had. And slight differences in the recipes shouldn't matter. Or so she thought.

Experimentally lifting the top of the waffle iron to check on her waffles, Naruto was devastated to find that the waffle had stuck to both the top and the bottom of the iron. She let out a loud groan before scraping that waffle up off the iron and suddenly remembered seeing Sasuke spray some oil onto the iron before he placed the batter within. So, rummaging around in the cabinets until she found the can of oil spray, she quickly sprayed both sides of the iron and poured more batter onto it.

This time, as soon as she closed the iron, batter oozed out of both sides and onto the counter. "Oops..." she giggled slightly, still anticipating the syrupy goodness of the waffles to come. A few minutes later, she lifted the top, relieved to find that the waffle did not stick this time and came up easily when she pulled it out and laid it upon a plate. Not even putting the batter in for the next waffle, Naruto poured a lake of syrup on and around her waffle before hungrily digging in.

Her first reaction to the waffle was to gag. Her second, to make a mad dash to the trash can and spit it out. "Okay... that's _so_ much harder than Sasuke-teme made it look," she muttered to herself as she poured herself a glass of water to rinse her mouth out with. The bitter taste of her homemade waffle was still lingering in her mouth, threatening to make her gag once more. Sighing, she decided that perhaps it might be better to eat cold cereal instead. "_At least," _she thought to herself, "_I made him get something sugary."_

After finishing off her second bowl of the sugar-laden cereal, Naruto looked down at her dress shirt and realized that she had both flour and waffle batter in large splotches. She quirked an eyebrow, pulling the shirt out to get a better look at it and decided she might better change clothes before she got the batter on Sasuke's furniture.

Emerging from her room a few minutes later in clean clothes and the batter-splashed dress shirt in her hands, Naruto decided she better soaked it in water so it wouldn't stain. She, herself, had no idea what all would stain and what wouldn't, and since this _was _technically still Sasuke's shirt, she didn't want to upset him by putting a permanent stain in it. Better safe than sorry. So, blue dress shirt in hand, Naruto went into the bathroom, placing the shirt in the tub before filling it up with water. Once it reached the height that Naruto dubbed acceptable, she turned off the faucet, watching the soaked shirt slowly sink to the bottom before leaving the room.

Plopping herself on the couch next to Kyuubi, Naruto let out a big sigh, boredom kicking in again. Grabbing her stuffed kitsune, she lifted it up with both arms, so now it was hovering above her face. "Ne, Kyuu… what are we going to do now? I don't have anything to do now, and Sasuke-teme isn't here to take me to the movies like yesterday…"

Wait. Yesterday.

. . .

"_Hey, Sasuke. When can I come down to your police station?" Naruto asked as she pulled open the bag of potato chips she was supposed to be putting away and began munching on them. "You know, so I could meet the rest of your frie—"_

"_No," Sasuke immediately snapped at her as he took the chips away from her and closed the bag, much to her disappointment._

_His answer took her aback and her eyes narrowed. "Why not?" Naruto demanded to know as she grabbed the bag of chips back from him. When Sasuke didn't answer her question, she glared at him, which came out to be more of a pout than a glare. Even when she was young, she didn't like being ordered around._

_. . ._

The same angry look from their argument yesterday appeared back on her face.

Sasuke was not going to control her life.

She'd figured that much out when she'd ran back to her room to get appropriately for the fall weather. Once she returned to the living room, she did a full twirl so that Kyuubi could see her attire. "Well," she questioned, "how do I look?" Naruto still wore same apparel from before, but now was clad in a tan trench coat with a matching fedora.

"The perfect disguise for a spy in incognito," Naruto boasted to the fox with her hands on her hips. "And now to complete the look…" She pulled out a pair of plastic glasses with a fake nose and mustache attached to it, and slipped them on.

"Watch the place while I'm out, Kyuu!" Naruto shouted over her shoulder as she locked the door behind her, slinking out into the cool October air, adrenaline pumping her like fuel. She'd already noted down the address of the police station from all the case files on Sasuke's laptop when he wasn't looking (she was starting to think that she was smarter than him) and she soon found a cab.

"To the Konoha Police Station, please."

The driver glanced in his rear view mirror to get a good look at his customer, his eyes suddenly brooding down on her with an icy cold glare. Naruto flinched away, the look bringing back unwanted memories of her past. _"It's probably just the glasses. My disguise does look a bit suspicious."_

Naruto tried to laughed off in her mind, only to have it come out halfheartedly. She pulled up her collar around her to hide her face as much as possible. The driver still looked at her fixedly when the taxi arrived at the station. It looked very big from the outside. To be honest, she'd been expecting a huge, multi-story building like the CIA, but maybe it was just her imagination running around again. Naruto quickly paid the right amount for the drive, then hurried inside, wanting to get away from the man as fast as possible.

There were many people in the station when she entered the lobby, so she was careful not to make eye contact with anyone since she obviously didn't want to be noticed. One of the cops gave her a side glance when he walked passed her with a stack of papers at hand, giving her a slight bewildered look. Afraid of being caught again, Naruto got on all fours on the floor and started crawling around. _"Now, if I were Sasuke-teme's friends, where would I be?"_

The blonde continued searching, but as she turned a corner, she bumped into something, or more like some_one_. Naruto looked up at the person she ran into, a shaggy brunette with a gigantic white dog by his side. The man smirked amusingly down at Naruto's antics. "Well, who let a mutt in here?"

Naruto glowered, quickly standing straight up and stepping forward into his space. "I could say the same thing to you, dog breath."

The man's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Why you cocky little...!"

Kiba reached for his belt, but found that it was gone. "Nani? Where did—" He suddenly heard chuckling coming from the blonde. Immediately, he looked at Naruto, seeing his belt loaded with his gun, handcuffs, and other regulated items dangling back and forth in her hand in a taunting manner. "Looking for this?"

"Hey! Give that back!" Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Hm…" Naruto pondered, tapping her finger on her chin, pissing Kiba off even more. "Maybe…" She then gave him a mischievous grin. "If you spin around three times and say 'woof woof'."

Kiba's eyebrow twitched. "Like hell I will!"

He made a lunge for Naruto, but the sly ex-thief slip from his grasp. "Ha! You can't catch the Great Uzumaki Naruto!" she exclaimed, sticking out her tongue at him.

She jumped on top of a table to avoid Kiba's advances, but he was proving to be persistent. He dove for her again, but she escaped him once more. Consequently, the tackle knocked down the items on the table, scattering them about the floor while causing a loud clanging. Kiba recovered quickly, going for the thief again. Not surprisingly, the two's antics drew the attention of the surrounding officers, including the passerby's, as they form a circle around the two.

Finally, the two both stopped, breathing labored, but not uncomfortable. Kiba smirked, wiping sweat from his forehead. Naruto wiped the blonde strands that have fallen over her eyes away, and smirked right back at him.

"Okay, play time's over." Naruto said indifferently.

Kiba laughed. "I agree. Akamaru, you're up, boy." The huge white dog Naruto had seen earlier ambled over. He stood next to Kiba and looked directly at Naruto. The officers around the circle began to mumble. Who would have thought this person would last this long, and that Kiba would even need to use Akamaru? Kakashi, Neji, Shikamaru, and Shino were four of the many who surrounded the noisy couple. "Why must Kiba get into these kind of predicaments every time?" Neji exasperated.

"Troublesome, I knew it."

"Does anyone know who that girl even is?" Shino muttered.

"Hm…" Kakashi mused, having an idea who the blonde might be. Hearing a yelp coming from the blonde girl, the four adverted their full attention back to the commotion.

The brunette let out a bark of a laugh in victory, playfully tightening the headlock he had on the blonde. "You were saying, runt?"

"Argh! Let me go, damn it!"

* * *

Sasuke had come around the corner of the lobby in time to see a person in a trench coat dodge Kiba's charge. His mind almost didn't believe what he was seeing. Someone was facing off against one of his officers. This would not end well. And of course, it HAD to be Kiba.

Sasuke treaded towards the forming circle of officers and pushed himself between Shino and Shikamaru. They both glanced at their boss with bored expressions and then returned their sights to the main attraction.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked in a stern tone.

"Huh?" Shikamaru responded.

"See for yourself." Shino stated.

The Uchiha looked back to the captivation. The newcomer's hat had fallen off once Kiba had gotten a hold of them, blonde hair framing around the face. Aggravated blue eyes glared back into Kiba's mirthful ones. Sasuke's eyes widen. He stepped forward.

"NARUTO!"

Naruto turned toward the yell of her name, smile matching her bright eyes. Upon seeing Sasuke stalking toward her, the smile fell. Sasuke's face was dark, his black bangs hanging in his eyes. His whole body was tense, like it was coiled to strike. As Sasuke got closer, Naruto couldn't stop herself from stepping back and closing her eyes. Fear raced through her instantly. Her eyes shot open when she felt a heavy arm fall around her shoulders.

"Hey boss, Naruto and I were just playing around. Did you need something?" Kiba asked, Naruto couldn't believe her ears. Kiba, a.k.a. Dog Breath, was defending her. Treating her like a fellow comrade and friend. She risked a glance at Sasuke. His face was as dark as ever, but his eyes didn't show any malice. Sasuke pulled Naruto by the wrist in front of him so now they were eye-to-eye. "What are you doing here? I thought I told you not to come here!"

The same anger from before came back. "You expect me to stay in that apartment of yours for the _whole_ day, then your crazy!"

An abnormal silence fell over the whole lobby, as Sasuke scanned the whole room, finding that everyone was still present, listening closely to their conversation. "What are you all still doing standing around? Get back to work!" Sasuke ordered.

Making most of the officers jumped, they scrambled to their destinations, leaving the lobby emptied saved for Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Neji, Shikamaru, and Shino. After a few moments, Naruto glanced over Sasuke's side, trying to have a better look at the five remaining people. She already met Kiba, but who were the other four?

"You know, Uchiha, it's very rude to not introduce us to your acquaintance here."

Sasuke 'hn'-ed at Neji, before motioning a hand at the Hyuuga. "This is Inuzuka Kiba—you already met—Hyuuga Neji," Sasuke said, moving down the row. "Aburame Shino, Nara Shikamaru, and Hatake Kakashi."

Naruto smiled brightly at each of them. "Nice to meet you all!"

Each of them replied back in their own way, but the silver haired man, Kakashi, just continued to stare at her with his visible eye, his hand cupped around his chin. Naruto started to get uneasy. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"Hm.. so _you're_ Sasuke's dirty little secret…"

…

Everybody was silent until…

"EEEHHH?"

"..!..."

"NANI? You got her _laid_?" Kiba exclaimed before bursting out laughing despite how shocked he was.

"_Sigh_." Shino just shook his head.

"Troublesome."

"Scandalous…"

* * *

About an hour later, Sasuke called Sakura to pick Naruto up from the police station, since she's on her break now. She agreed and after the drive to Sasuke's apartment, Naruto bid Sakura farewell as she ascended the stairs. Once reaching the correct door, Naruto tried turning the knob on Sasuke's apartment, only to realize that when she had shut the door before, it had inadvertently locked as well. And Sasuke had yet to give her a key to the apartment.

"Perfect," Naruto muttered, leaning against the wall and slowly sliding down it until she was sitting flat on the floor, her legs stretched out in front of her. Realizing that Sakura was probably on the road by now and couldn't help her, the teenager let out a deflated sigh.

"Oh, Naruto! I forgot to ask you—"

Naruto looked up to see Sakura.

"What are you still doing out here, Naruto?" the pinkette asked concernedly. She leaned her side against Sasuke's door while looking down at the girl at her feet.

Laughing nervously, Naruto jumped to her feet and hesitantly smiled. "Well, you see... I kinda forgot to ask Sasuke for a spare key to his apartment, and I kinda sorta got locked out," she explained embarrassingly, playing with the ends of her shirt.

"Lucky for you, I have Sasuke's spare key," Sakura announced, taking a simple silver key out of her purse. She handed Naruto the key, which the blonde gladly took. Opening the door, both women entered Sasuke's apartment, the younger grimacing when she saw the mess she had made in the kitchen and the other looking at the mess in shock, wondering how one person could make such a big mess in such a short period of time. "How did you do this?"

Nervous laughter once again struck the teenager, causing her to bite her lip. "I was trying to make waffles and I kinda got it everywhere," she muttered quietly, eyes darting back and forth.

"Let's clean up this mess before I have to get back down to the hospital." Without a word, Sakura quickly began fitting what she could into the dishwasher, taking breaks occasionally to playfully ask Naruto _how_ she managed to get waffle batter on the ceiling. Naruto simply told her she didn't want to know.

Finally, with both girls working together, the kitchen was back to its normal spotless shine. "There you go. I got to get back down to the hospital for my shift. I'll see you later," the pinkette told her as she walked to the door.

"Okay. Thanks for everything, Sakura-chan," Naruto replied, hearing the door shut when Sakura left.

Examining the house key again, Naruto was glad that Sakura had a spare. She wouldn't know what to do if the pinkette hadn't. Though, she could have tried going down to the apartment manager's office to have them let her in, but as Sasuke hadn't introduced her to them, she knew they would never believe her story. Especially considering how cold and distant Sasuke appeared to everyone. No one would believe that he would take someone like her in.

But, thinking back to the last few weeks she had spent with him, she realized he wasn't really so cold after all. He liked to act like he was, but when it came down to it, he was actually very kind. After all, he was taking a chance by letting her, a known pickpocket, not only live with him, but also work at his friend's restaurant, where she could easily access the cash registers. And he trusted her enough to let her stay here by herself when she could easily rob him blind. Not that she would, but she could.

No, Sasuke wasn't all that cold after all. Especially after the way he had acted the night before when they had gone to the movies. He had not objected at all to Naruto hiding her head in his chest and, after the first few times, actually leaving her head there for the rest of the movie. Not only that, but he also had put his arm around her. "_Not that he meant anything by it," _Naruto insisted to herself.

While lost in the ruminations of the enigma that was Sasuke, the phone rang, disturbing the teenager's musing while she went to answer the phone. But, even after picking the phone up, the ringing continued and she realized it wasn't the phone in her hand.

Following the ringing down the hall, she found the sound was coming from Sasuke's bedroom and she hesitantly entered it, intent upon finding the source of the ringing. There, on his dresser, sat a pager. Thinking once again that she had found the source of the ringing, she picked it up and pushed a button to answer it. The ringing continued.

Naruto threw her head back in disgust, groaning as she tried to find out what was still ringing. "It's gonna be a long day," she mumbled to herself, roaming around his room as she followed the sound.

* * *

A little after ten-thirty that night, Sasuke walked through the door, bags from the small Chinese place he had stopped at in one hand and the mail in the other. No sooner had he stepped through the door than he was assaulted by a barrage of what sounded like muffled 'beeeeep beeeeeep.' It was then that he realized he had left both his cellular phone and pager at home that morning. "Naruto?" he called concernedly, wondering why she hadn't answered the phone.

"Make it stop!" came a muffled reply from what looked like a pile of blankets and pillows on the sofa. Her head peeked out from beneath the pillow and looked pleadingly at him. "Please, just make it stop!"

Sasuke set the bags and letters down on the table, walking to the phone base to turn the cordless phone off, only to find it wasn't there. "Um... Naruto... where's the phone?" he questioned confusedly, looking around the living room to see if she might have placed it upon the coffee table.

"Check in the bottom of the laundry hamper, in the pantry, and underneath the cushion of that big chair," she muttered from beneath the pillow, sticking her hand out to wave it towards each of the places she mentioned.

Sighing and tiredly running a hand through his hair, Sasuke trotted off to each place she mentioned and finally found that it was his cell phone that was going off. Seeing that he got a text message, he clicked the 'Open' button.

"_**Hey Sasuke. Never you were such a player, seducing a poor naïve girl into your apartment. ..You know, there's a kinky store a few block from where you live, if you want to spruce things up. **__**Bow chicka bow wow**__**!"**_

Sasuke clenched his cell phone in his fist until his knuckles turned white, not caring that it had made a 'crack' sound. _"That damn Kiba… Once I get my hands on him…"_

* * *

In the living room, Naruto sighed with relief when the beeping had stopped and crawled out from beneath the blankets and pillows, the smell of food beckoning her to the table. By the time Sasuke had returned to the kitchen, she already had her chopsticks and was making considerable progress on the fried rice.

"You could've waited for me," Sasuke grumbled, taking the other small packages of food out of the bags and placing them on the table, the tops open on each so he could pick his way through them. Just as he was about to reach for the sesame chicken, Naruto grabbed it and began shoveling it into her mouth. "I feel like a scavenger in my own house," he mumbled, settling for the teriyaki instead and leaning back in his chair to eat it.

Swallowing the bite in her mouth, Naruto placed the half-eaten box of sesame chicken back on the table, biting her lip as she did so. "I'm sorry. You wanted that, didn't you?" she asked quietly, her eyes downcast as she pushed the box towards him.

Sasuke waved it back at her with his chopsticks. "No, go ahead. It's okay. I'll just know to get more of it next time," he told her, going back to eating his teriyaki and taking a few bites of rice to go along with it.

The teenager tentatively took the sesame chicken back, as though she half expected him to change his mind and want it back. "I guess I'm just letting my hunger get the better of me," she muttered more to herself than to him, yet he had still heard her.

"You're always hungry," he declared, thinking about her almost constant intake of food since she had gotten over her flu. "In fact, I've never seen you turn down _any _food."

"You can't be picky when you don't know when or where your next meal's gonna come from," Naruto explained, remembering that a little over two weeks ago, she was in that exact state... never knowing what she was going to eat the next day until she found it.

A silence settled over the room as they both continued to eat and Sasuke began to sort through the mail he had brought in. "Here... this one's for you," he told her, handing over an envelope from the Social Security Administration. "I think they've finally sent your card."

Setting her food down on the table, Naruto ripped open the letter and pulled out the small blue card. "So, does this mean I'm a real person now?" she joked as she read the number to herself and tried to commit it to memory.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. And this is also for you." Sasuke reached into his back pocket and pulled out another envelope, this one plain white. "Your first paycheck."

Naruto grabbed the envelope, carefully opening it and pulling out the check. Her eyes went wide when she stared at the amount of money she had earned. "Are you _sure_ this is all mine? I mean, you didn't accidentally give me someone else's check, too, did you?" she asked incredulously. In her whole life, she had never seen that much money at one time.

"Nope, it's all yours," Sasuke replied.

Surprise was etched on Naruto's face. Not only was this man taking care of her right now, but he was trying to help her enough so that further on down the road, she wouldn't have to resume her old ways. "Arigatou," she murmured softly.

"You're welcome," Sasuke replied simply.

* * *

It was around midnight and Naruto had long since gone to bed, but Sasuke was still awake with his laptop at hand, going over the evidence in the case. Just as he let out a yawn and was about to go to bed himself, he heard a muffled moan coming from Naruto's room. He turned his attention away from the laptop and sat still, listening to see if the sound would come again or if it was only his imagination. But, it did resound and Sasuke rose to his feet and strode down the hall to her room, peeking through the open door to see what was wrong.

On the bed, Naruto twisted around until the sheets were wrapped tightly around her legs and strangled sobs and moans left her throat. Concerned, Sasuke quickly entered the room, ignoring the light switch as the moonlight cascading through the window sufficiently illuminated the room. At the edge of her bed, he sat down and gently stroked her sweaty forehead, softly calling her name.

As she heard her name, the distraught teenager's moans and sobs became coherent cries. "No, no… I don't want to die," she mumbled, twisting around on the bed once more.

"Naruto, wake up," Sasuke commanded gently, taking her by the shoulders and shaking her slightly. Cerulean eyes flew open, full of tears as they darted around the room, finally settling on the man in front of her. She pulled herself upright and threw herself against his chest, wrapping her arms around him as she soaked his shirt with a fresh wave of tears. Sasuke brought his arms around, holding her against him and stroking her back in long, soothing strokes. "It's okay, Naruto. It was just a nightmare."

The girl in her arms fervently shook her head before looking up at him with a tear-stained face. "No it wasn't," she muttered, remembering the dream too vividly for her liking. She reluctantly pulled out of his arms and leaned against the back of the bed, reaching under her blankets for her stuffed kitsune.

"Of course it was a nightmare, Naruto," Sasuke insisted, watching as she roughly wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand while the other clutched the bear. "Everyone has them from time to time."

"It _wasn't _a nightmare," she insisted just as stubbornly as he had insisted it was. She knew what it was and she decided she would tell him as much. "It's... it's a memory," she whispered quietly, turning her head to look towards the door.

Just as Sasuke was about to say something, Naruto interrupted him. "Do you remember what I told you about living in the orphanage? About leaving that place thirteen years ago?" she asked quickly, watching him nod slowly. "Well, that's half-right." Taking a deep breath, Naruto began her story, telling him more things than she had ever told anyone before. But, she felt she could trust him with her past for some strange reason.

"I was four years old when it happened," she whispered, her brows furrowed as she looked down at the stuffed kitsune in her hands. "I remember it like it was just yesterday." She paused, looking up into Sasuke's eyes to see if he was listening or not. He was, and she lowered her eyes once more. "I was actually kicked out... the caretaker thought that I'd burned down the kitchen earlier that day. …I tried to tell her that the other kids did it, but she wouldn't listened to me. …She never does…"

A hand falling across hers made her look up in surprise and stop for a moment as she tried to find her words. "It was raining that day... I wondered to an alleyway and bumped into a drunken man. I was at the wrong place at the wrong time…" she murmured, clenching her eyes tightly shut as though trying to block the mental images. "Before I could get away, he grabbed me and slammed me against the wall. He... he wanted to released his anger, so he took it out on me."

She took a deep shuddery breath to keep the sobs at bay for now. She had to finish this without crying. "I saw him take out his switchblade, aiming it at me. But before he could stabbed me with it, I tried to block it. It made a big gash on my arm. It wasn't the first time I've been cut before," Naruto scoffed slightly as she unconsciously touched her scarred cheeks, not wanting to _feel_ anything for it hurt too much. "But, this time was different. The slashing kept coming... they didn't stop... I was crying out _so much_, but nobody came to save me..." Her voice cracked slightly and she barely noticed when Sasuke's arms wrapped around her and drew him to her chest. "I kept hoping that it was all just a horrible dream, I wanted to close my eyes and fall asleep. But the pain woke me up again, and again, and _again_…"

"It's okay, Naruto. It's okay," Sasuke murmured softly, once again stroking her back to help soothe her. In his arms, the teenager shuddered and he could feel her choke back a sob as her arms feebly wrapped around his waist.

"And... and... then," she hiccoughed, her sobs breaking through the barriers she had so carefully erected. "When the beatings finally stopped, I thought that I was in heaven. I thought that I could finally be with otou-san and okaa-san, so that we could be a happy family. But I just got thrown into a dumpster like a worthless piece of crap."

Sasuke tightly clenched his eye shut just imagining what this girl had gone through at such a young age. No one should ever go through that, young or old. Yet she had.

"I don't remember much of what happened next. I just know that I laid sleeping in the dumpster for a while. I don't know if it was for a few minutes or for a few days, but I stayed in there until my cuts were dried up," Naruto finished, burying her face into Sasuke's chest and tightening her grip around him.

Not knowing what else to do, Sasuke simply held onto her, allowing her to cry herself back to sleep in his arms while he murmured soothing words to her. Once her breathing had evened, he carefully laid her back down upon the bed, pulling the blankets up to her chin. But, as he got up to leave, he felt a soft tug on his shirt. "Please don't leave me, Sasuke," Naruto whispered, her eyes pleading with him to stay. "I just... I don't want to be alone tonight."

"Okay. I'll stay here while you sleep," Sasuke replied, walking across the room to move the chair sitting there to her bedside. As soon as he sat down, Naruto reached over and grasped his hand within one of hers. He gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Just go back to sleep, Naruto. And I'll be right here."

Nodding, Naruto settled back down into the blankets, still holding onto Sasuke's hand as she fell into what she hoped would be a dreamless sleep. But, instead of a dreamless sleep, she dreamed of what it felt like when Sasuke had been holding her, comforting her and what it would be like to stay in those arms forever. Safe in those arms.

Hours later, the sunlight from the rising sun filtered through the thin curtains of Naruto's room and landed upon Sasuke's face. His eyes fluttered open and he found himself still sitting in the chair, but hunched over so his head was resting upon Naruto's bed. A warmth stretched across his neck and he turned his head to the side to find Naruto's arm resting across it. A small smile flitted across his face as he quietly yawned, looking at the clock as he did so. It was just after six in the morning and he knew if he didn't get some sleep somewhere comfortable, he would be regretting it later in the day.

A brief thought of climbing into he bed with Naruto crossed his mind, but with the way his thoughts towards her had been going lately, he knew he couldn't trust himself. And he didn't want to ruin the trust that was building between them. So, rising to his feet and ignoring the popping of his back as it protested the position he had slept in, he started to leave the room, but stopped at the doorway and turned back around. He slowly approached her bed and leaned over, placing a gentle kiss upon Naruto's forehead, believing that since she was still asleep, no one would be the wiser. He left the room, leaving the door partially open.

As soon as she heard him walk out of the room, Naruto's eyes flew open and stared disbelievingly at the door. She slowly brought a hand up and touched her forehead, the warmth from his lips still lingering there. Sighing with a soft smile, she snuggled back down into the blankets and closed her eyes, having forgotten her nightmare from the night before and only thinking about the chaste kiss Sasuke had given her that morning.

* * *

**This will be the last one for a few months.**


	10. Jealousy is a Beast

**Summary:** AU Pickpocketing and stealing are the only things Naruto knows to survive in the busy streets of Konoha. But what happens when she stole a wallet from the wrong guy, namely Uchiha Sasuke? What does fate have in stored for these two? SasuFemNaru

**Pairings:** SasuFemNaru, LeeSaku, NejiTen, KibaHina, JirTsu, ChouIno

**Warnings: **Language, Sexual terms, Violence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

* * *

**Thieving Gets You Nowhere**_  
by Aesura_

_**Jealousy is a Beast**_

* * *

"Is there anything else you'll need, ma'am?" the fair-skinned proprietor of the small grocery, who could've been easily mistaken for a girl, asked as he rang up the various items Naruto had placed on the counter.

"Nope, that'll be all." Smiling, Naruto shook her head and pulled the money Sasuke had given her for the groceries out of her pocket, carefully unfolding the bills as she did so. Sakura had tried to get her to carry a purse, but being a former pickpocket, she knew how easily _those_ could be stolen and had politely refused the pinkette's advice.

The store owner began to carefully place her purchases into a brown paper bag while Naruto counted out the correct change. Smiling gratefully, he took the money from her and pushed the bag, which sported the store's name, simply _Usagi_, across the counter and into Naruto's arms.

"We thank you and come again," he called, waving as she walked out the door and into the cool, late September air. The sun setting in the distance cast a soft orange glow over everything around her, making it seem as though the streets were paved in gold.

As soon as she was outside, she reached into the bag and pulled out the small box of freshly made strawberry-filled cannolis and ripped it open single-handedly since the paper bag full of groceries was still in her other hand. Biting into the dessert, she sighed and tried not to make too many noises as she savored the taste. She was already gaining stares from the people she passed just for the way she had ripped into the package. She didn't need anymore. Finishing the first cannoli, Naruto decided she had better not eat the last one, but, rather, save it for Sasuke.

While she walked along, the memory of the gentle kiss he had placed on her forehead a few days before came to mind. Naruto sighed, trying to sort things out as she was still just as confused today as she was the moment he had kissed her. He had apparently thought her asleep at the time and had not brought it up. In fact, he had became more distant than he had been before, which, in turn, made the girl too afraid to bring it up herself.

Having been lost so deep in thoughts revolving around all things Sasuke, Naruto didn't notice the telephone pole in front of her until she felt it connect soundly with her forehead.

"Ow!" she cried, very nearly dropping the bag she was holding to rub her forehead, but remembering that it contained a few glass jars and they would surely smash on the concrete below. So, with her other hand, she gingerly touched the knot that was already forming on her brow and wondered how big of a mark the pole had left.

She glared angrily at the telephone pole, as though it were its fault she had smashed into it, and quickly crossed the sidewalk to look at her reflection in the nearest store window. A faint purple bruise was rapidly forming and she gently prodded it around the edges, wincing as she did so.

"Perfect," she muttered, knowing that to avoid embarrassment, she would have to come up with a plausible lie for what happened. They would think she was insane if she told anyone that she was too absorbed in thoughts of her completely hot benefactor...

She paused her thoughts right there, blinking a few times. "Completely hot?" she whispered softly, hoping no one could hear her. "Where did _that_ come from?" Of course, after she thought about it for a minute, she had to admit that it was true. And when this Sunday had turned into a repeat of last Sunday, with Sasuke walking around for most of the day in only his boxers, she realized that it was her favorite day of the week.

Shaking her head to clear her mind, Naruto stared into the glass store front once more, trying to discern if the bruise had actually grown over the past few minutes. But, instead of her reflection, her eyes instead fell upon the autumn kimonos displayed in the window. Mentally calculating how much money of her own she had left, glad that she was now getting a steady paycheck, she almost walked into the store to buy one until she realized that she really had no where to wear it. As Sasuke hadn't mentioned anything about a festival, she assumed he wasn't going to one, especially since the nearest festival, the Fukuro Matsuri, was only a few days away. So, sighing in disappointment, she dragged herself away from the store and headed back to Sasuke's apartment.

After trekking through two blocks of crowds, Naruto finally reached the apartment door and had to shift the groceries over to her hip so she could unlock and open the door. Nearly dropping the bag once again, she hurried over to the counter and hefted it up onto the surface, right next to Sasuke, who was sitting on a barstool with his laptop computer open and in front of him, seemingly oblivious that Naruto had returned. "Okay, where do you want this stuff?" the teenager finally asked, already pulling out a few items from the bag and setting them on the counter.

"Just leave everything out for now except for the cheese and put it on the top shelf of the refrigerator," Sasuke muttered distractedly as he stared intently at the computer screen in front of him, scrolling the page down a little further as he wrote some information down on a sheet of paper.

Curious, Naruto leaned over his arm and looked at the screen herself, furrowing her brows and leaning closer to get a better look. Before she could get a clear view, Sasuke immediately lowered the screen until an audible _click_ was heard. Looking up, the Uchiha noticed a small pink blob on the tip of Naruto's nose and he resisted the urge to wipe it off for her, instead telling her, "You have something on your nose."

Frowning, Naruto lifted her hand up and wiped the blob off with her fingers, looking at it and then laughing. "Yeah, it's from the cannolis I bought. I kinda got hungry on the way home and ate one," she told him sheepishly, remembering that it _was _his money she bought them with. "There's one left if you want it." She reached into the paper bag and held the cannoli box out to him.

Sasuke sighed and ran a hand slowly through his hair, shaking his head as he did so. "No, you can have it." He looked back up to see her already biting into it, managing to get the strawberry cream at the corners of her mouth, which she daintily wiped away. And as much as he hated to admit it, watching her eat the cannoli was starting to turn him on, so he quickly shifted his gaze from her mouth to her eyes. That was when he noticed the large purple bruise on her forehead. "What did you do to your forehead?"

"Promise you won't laugh?" she pleaded, a light blush starting to creep across her face.

"It depends on how you did that. I mean, if you walked into a telephone pole..." he trailed off when he saw her blush deepen and she refused to meet his eyes. "You walked into a telephone pole?" he asked incredulously, reaching out to lightly touch the knot on her head to see how serious it was and trying not to give into the urge to kiss it. But, at her wince, he withdrew his fingers and instead walked over to the refrigerator and pulled a couple of ice cubes out of the freezer, wrapping them in a dish towel and handing them to her. "Here, this should help with the swelling."

Naruto gratefully took the ice pack away, still slightly confused from hearing the concern in his voice when he had asked her about it. After Sasuke being cold and distant to her for the last few days, it wasn't something she was expecting. "Thanks, Sasuke," she murmured as she placed the pack on her forehead, shivering as the ice quickly cooled her skin.

Sasuke went to answer the door as someone had begun tapping impatiently at it. He pulled it open to find Sakura immediately pushing past him and stepping into the apartment, ignoring him and turning to Naruto, who slowly brought the hand that held the ice pack to her forehead down to her side. "Why, of course you can come in, Sakura. Just make yourself at home," he muttered sarcastically under his breath as he shut the door.

"Naruto, we got to go get you a kimo–," the pinkette began, stopping when she saw the bruise on the girl's forehead. "What on earth did you do to your head?"

Rolling her eyes, Naruto put the ice pack back on the knot, wincing at the cold. "I hit it on a telephone pole," she muttered quietly, halfway hoping Sakura wouldn't hear her. But she did.

"Here, let me see it," the pinkette commanded, pulling the ice pack away from it and prodding the edges of the bruise. "It's not too bad and a little makeup will cover it right up."

"I'm not wearing makeup," the teenager insisted, hating the way the stuff made her face feel like it was suffocating. "And what were you saying a moment ago?" Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Sasuke left the room with his laptop, leaving the two women alone.

Stopping to think for a moment, Sakura furrowed her brows and tried to remember. "Oh yeah. We've got to get you a kimono for Fukuro Matsuri. There's the cutest kimono over in this shop–"

Naruto put her ice pack down on the counter and placed her hands firmly on the older woman's shoulders. "Sakura-chan, calm down. I don't have any place to _wear_ a kimono, so I really don't think I need to get one."

"But that's the thing, Naruto. I pulled some strings at a private local community group I volunteer at and got you entered in their kimono contest," the pinkette told her excitedly, her brilliant green eyes shining with delight. She grab Naruto's arm and started tugging her towards the door. "So, come on before that shop sells the kimono I want you to see."

"Well, okay... but let me go grab my wallet. I mean, I don't want _you_ paying for the kimono," Naruto insisted, pulling away from Sakura and going down the hall to her room. She passed Sasuke on the way as he was going back into the living room.

"She's seventeen, not seven, Sakura," Sasuke told her, shaking his head and giving the woman a half-hearted glare. "What if she doesn't want to dress up for Fukuro Matsuri?"

Simply rolling her eyes, the pinkette tiredly brought her hands up to massage her temples. "Sasuke-kun, I drove past her as she was walking back a little while ago. And she was staring into a kimono store. Think about it. From what little she's told us about her past, I gather she didn't have much of a childhood," Sakura hissed, not wanting her voice to carry down the hall to Naruto's ears.

Naruto came back into the living room, completely oblivious to the short conversation that was centered around her. "I'm ready when you are, Sakura-chan," she sang happily, already walking towards the apartment door, her hand on the knob. She stopped and turned back to Sasuke, who had just turned the TV on and was flipping through the channels. "Bye, teme," she called, waving as she walked out the door.

The pinkette, who had been heading towards the door, stopped mid-step and turned to the man, surprise clearly written across her features. "Teme?" she mouthed, blinking a few times.

"Don't ask," he muttered, shaking his head.

* * *

A few days later, on Fukuro Matsuri to be precise, Sasuke found himself leaning against a tree trunk of the local park next to Sakura. His arms were crossed over his chest and his head was lowered slightly, causing his ebony bangs to veil his stormy onyx eyes. And he seemed to be getting quite a few open-mouthed stares from love-struck girls. He had never liked this much attention and he still didn't. "Sakura," he growled, keeping his voice low so as not to draw any more attention to himself, "tell me again _why_ I'm here?"

Brushing her strawberry bangs out of her face, she turned to give him an exasperated stare. "To support Naruto," the pinkette sighed, having already told him that at least five times in the last hour.

Before he could come back with a crisp retort, Naruto stepped out of the portable dressing room, clad in her fall kimono. She had refused to show him what it was she had bought, claiming it was going to be a surprise as she stashed the bag away in the back of her closet. And she didn't want to put it on until _after _they had arrived at the park. So, it came to him as a complete shock to see her in the kimono.

She wore an orange silk kimono with a silver waterfall pouring from the knee into a slate-blue ocean. The waterfall was split by brown cliffs, with knotted driftwood at the base embroidered in lacquered threads. The obi**–**a russet and brown high**–**lighted with gold threads matched perfectly with the ornaments**–**a cascade of yellow and orange safflowers in silk**–**in her short blonde hair. Really, Sasuke didn't know _why_ he felt so drawn to her right then as the kimono really wasn't what one could consider sexy. But, he finally surmised that it was just the right mix of both cute and sexy that tugged at him.

Sasuke watched as Naruto inadvertently rammed into some guy about her age. And she quickly ran over to said person, with a hand covering her mouth as she appeared to be gushing out an apology. But, the guy simply waved a hand at her and smiled, and Naruto walked away. It was then that Sasuke noticed the guy checking her out, causing his blood to begin to boil which only served to confuse him. It wasn't as if he had staked a claim on Naruto or anything. But, then again, his mind reminded him of the way he had kissed her forehead nearly a week ago and how he seemed to be inexplicably drawn to her.

As Naruto started to walk across the make-shift stage to where the other contestants were waiting, Sasuke noticed that it wasn't only that one guy who was staring at her, but quite a few of the other guys as well. With a shock, he realized he was starting to become jealous and strangely protective of Naruto... as though she belonged to him. He suddenly had a strong urge to go beat them down.

Coming to the realization that if he stayed here much longer, he would end up hurting someone, Sasuke stepped away from the tree and turned to his companion. "Sakura, I've got to go. All this noise is driving me insane," he expertly lied, trying not to look over his shoulder at Naruto as seeing all the guys staring at her would only serve to increase his jealousy.

"But, Sasuke-kun," Sakura protested, grabbing his arm and holding him back. "You didn't bring your car. We came in mine, remember?"

"I'll catch a cab," he replied nonchalantly, shrugging her off his arm so he could exit the building.

Unbeknownst to Sasuke, Naruto had watched him leave the building, frowning as she did so and becoming so distracted by it, that the person she had been talking to had to repeat his question. "Mm hmm," Naruto mumbled, still not really hearing the question and leaping off the stage, hollering "I'll be back in a minute" over her shoulder to both her new acquaintance and Sakura.

Exiting the park entrance, Naruto found Sasuke starting to walk towards the road, his hands in his pockets and his head bent against the chill wind. "Hey!" she called out loudly, sprinting towards him, which was kind of difficult to do considering she was still in her kimono. She noted happily that he had stopped walking and turned to her.

Sasuke simply raised her eyebrows, urging her to continue without saying a word. He tried to hide his emotions, but, in doing so, it gave him a sullen look on his face.

Naruto bit her lip, wondering if maybe it would just be better to let the stoic man leave since he apparently didn't want to be here. But, leaving things alone had never been her strong point. "So... um, why'd you leave? I kinda wanted you to see," she said softly, trying to keep her voice steady.

Knowing that he couldn't tell her he had to leave before he did something completely irrational, Sasuke only shrugged his shoulders and muttered a short and curt 'whatever.'

"Was it just a bunch of stupid teenagers having _fun_ that annoyed you so much?" Naruto prodded angrily, a few tears springing unbidden into the back of her eyes. She had thought that this cold Sasuke had disappeared a few days ago, but, apparently, she was wrong, for here he was standing in front of her.

Seeing the tears in her eyes slowly begin to slide down her cheeks, he sighed and put his arms around her slim shoulders, drawing her to him in a gentle hug. As he couldn't think of anything to say to fix what had just happened, he simply stood there with her in his arms.

Naruto drew back from him, her brows drawn into an angry scowl as she glared at him past her tears. "And you can't say that you don't care! You kissed me!" she insisted, pointing an accusatory finger in his face. She really hadn't meant to bring up the kiss on her forehead, but the words just came tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them.

Sasuke's eyes grew large as he suddenly realized that when he had kissed her forehead, thinking she was asleep, she had actually been awake. He slowly dropped his arms from where they still rested on her shoulders and allowed them to hang at his sides. "Yes, I did," he whispered, hanging his head slightly and not meeting her eyes.

Just as she was about to ask him _why_ he had kissed her, since it was all out in the open now, Sakura peeked her head out from the arched entrance way of the park and called to her, saying that the competition was about to actually start and she needed to get back. Sighing, Naruto shut her eyes for a moment and then tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I... I... uh... better get back," she stuttered, wanting to stay outside and find out why he had kissed her, but scared at the same time.

Nodding, Sasuke stayed to watch her back into the park before continuing on his trek to the road, still planning on hailing a taxi to take him home. But, he decided, he had a stop to make before he actually went back to the apartment.

* * *

After the judging was over and the prize was awarded to someone who had dressed in an ice-blue kimono with multicolored ribbons embroidered at the hem, Naruto and Sakura finally made it back to Sasuke's apartment, the teenager still dressed in her kimono. In front of the stairway, they found someone sitting on the first step.

Dressed in a forest green yukata, the man, with his impressive eyebrows, stood up as he saw them approaching, holding out a bouquet of flowers to Sakura as he did so. "I wanted to show these flowers what true beauty really looks like," he recited, flashing his pearly whites and winking at the pinkette.

No sooner had he stood up and uttered that phrase, than Sakura squealed loudly and launched herself at the man, lips locking onto his. Naruto watched in shock as the pinkette fumbled in her purse for her key without ever once taking her lips off of his. Finally, they broke apart for air and she took advantage of that time to quickly unlocking her car, pulling him in with her. A few fumbles and giggles later, the door was shut behind them as the car quickly purred to life and sped off down the road.

"Yeah, don't worry about me, Sakura-chan. I'll be perfectly fine," the teenager called, glad that she had remembered to take her key to the apartment with her. Especially since Sasuke didn't appear to be home yet. And, seeing Sakura attacked that man like that, Naruto would have been loathe to call on her for help.

She opened the door and stepped into the dark apartment, immediately flipping on the nearest light as she closed and locked the door behind her. She was right in assuming that Sasuke was still out since his keys were not hanging on the hook where he always left them.

Looking at the clock, she sighed. It was just eleven o'clock and she had nothing else planned to occupy her time for the rest of the night. It was not even tired to go off to bed, Sasuke was gone and who knew when _he_ would get back, and Sakura-chan... well, she didn't want to even _think _about what the pinkette was doing right now. She could only hope that man was her boyfriend. She struggled to remember the photo of Rock Lee the had shown her and could very vaguely recall black hair and large eyebrows, but that was all.

Her stomach rumbled loudly, reminding her that she had yet to eat dinner, so she made her way through the kitchen, grabbing a cup of yogurt and a spoon before going down the hall to her bedroom. Since she had nothing else to do, she decided she would be much more comfortable in her pajamas... or, really, they were Sasuke's old dress shirts. She found them more comfortable than the silk pajamas Sakura had forced on her. And they also smelled nice... like Sasuke, she admitted to herself, smiling and shaking her head as she did so.

After buttoning up the dress shirt, maroon this time, she pulled on a pair of her grey sweat socks and picked up the cup of yogurt she had set on the dresser, heading back into the living room, intent on watching some TV until she fell asleep. But, as soon as she sat down on the couch and pulled the fuzzy blanket that was sitting there around her, she heard keys in the doorknob and turned around to watch as Sasuke came into the apartment, a pizza box in one hand and a clear plastic bag with a few movies from the local rental store in the other.

"You got pizza?" Naruto asked excitedly, jumping up off the couch and already forgetting the yogurt she had just started to eat. "What kind?"

Sasuke set the pizza box down on the counter, placing the movies beside it and opened the box. "Just pepperoni... I couldn't remember what you liked on it," he admitted, already going to the pantry to pull out two paper plates. When he turned back, Naruto already had a piece of the pizza in one hand, a bite or two gone, and the movies in the other, reading the titles off while she ate.

"_Dark Water, Pulse, One Missed Call, _and _Audition_?" she asked, looking back and forth between the movies titles and Sasuke for a moment. "Those all sound like scary movies." She looked at him suspiciously, taking another bite of the pizza and fishing around in the refrigerator for a soda to drink with it.

"They are," Sasuke smirked, handing her a plate even though it seemed to be useless to do so since she was just about finished with her first piece of pizza and using her hands apparently didn't bother her. "I thought we could get a head start on Halloween."

Carrying the pizza box into the living room, he sat it on the coffee table and placed the first DVD, _One Missed Call_, into the player before sitting down on the end of the couch. Naruto sat down on the opposite end, already working on her second piece of pizza. As the movie progressed and became scarier, he noticed that she kept edging towards him until she was finally up against his side and hiding her face in his shirt. He noted that his predicament was somehow déjà vu to at the movie theater.

Naruto shivered slightly, both from the scary scenes in the movie and from the relatively cold air in the apartment, making her pull the blanket she had discarded earlier up around her and curl tighter into Sasuke's side. She really wasn't sure how he felt about her being so close to him as he was such a confusing person, but it didn't matter. The movie scared her, yet he made her feel safe when his arm came around her back, and she cherished that feeling. It made her feel like she belonged somewhere for once in her life.

In the middle of the third movie, _Audition_, Sasuke noticed that Naruto's head kept drooping slightly as she would drift off to sleep, only to jerk it back up when she woke up each time. Finally, her head fell and she didn't lift it up, telling him that she had fallen asleep for good this time. He toyed with the idea of staying on the couch all night and letting her sleep there with him, but ultimately decided she would be better off in her own bed and he would be better in his.

So, carefully picking her up, he carried her bridal style to her room, trying not to peek down her shirt when it dipped low in the front. It was really starting to drive him mad the way she would run around all evening and all morning on Sundays in just his dress shirts. And he would find himself trying to take a peek and then immediately hate himself afterwards each time she did.

Naruto incoherently mumbled something and twitched in her sleep as Sasuke pulled the sheets of her bed down before placing her in it. He pulled the blankets up to her chin, effectively tucking her in before he left the room, remembering to leave her door partially open. Then, returning to the living room, he turned off the still playing movie and retired to bed himself.

It was only a few hours into her sleep when Naruto awoke suddenly from a nightmare, shivering slightly as the sweat on her body cooled. This time, however, her nightmare wasn't of her childhood, but having to do with the movies she and Sasuke had watched. Eyes darting around the room, it appeared like everything was alive and trying to reach out to her.

She jumped out of the bed and darted down the hall to Sasuke's room, tiptoeing inside and stopping at his bedside. And just as she was about to awaken him to ask if she could stay in his room that night, just on the floor so she wouldn't be alone, something creaked behind her and she dived into his bed before she could stop herself. She curled into a tight ball, pulling the blankets around her and clenched her eyes shut, hating herself for being such a wimp.

The bouncing of the mattress as she jumped onto to it awakened Sasuke, who groggily rolled over and stared at her, trying to get his eyes to focus. "Naruto?" he mumbled sleepily, running a hand tiredly down his face. Her face peeked out from beneath the blankets and wide, scared indigo eyes seemed to bore holes into his face.

"I... I kept having dreams that I'm going to be tortured to death by a crazy needle-girl," she admitted sheepishly, beginning to crawl out from under the covers and off the bed. "And I didn't want to be alone, so I came in here to ask if I could sleep on the floor. And then there was this noise behind me and it scared me so I kinda jumped into bed with you," she finished lamely, now standing up beside his bed and looking down at the floor.

Suddenly feeling very guilty for renting scary movies when he knew they terrified her, Sasuke nodded, lifting the edge of the blanket so she could crawl back under them. She simply stared at him. "You don't have to sleep on the floor, Naruto," he mumbled, scooting over so there was more room for her on that side of the bed. "The bed is plenty big enough."

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked timidly.

"Yes."

"Positive?"

"Yes! Now get in the bed!" Sasuke finally commanded in exasperation, relieved to see that she was actually climbing into the bed. He had thought for a moment that he would have to physically lift her up and put her in the bed before she would do it herself. But, there she was, less than a foot away from him with her back turned towards him and curled into a ball.

Feeling much safer now that she wasn't alone, Naruto sighed in contentment and breathed in deeply Sasuke's scent from the pillow and sheets. She couldn't describe the scent, not in words anyways, but it was something that seemed to be distinctly him and she was beginning to crave that smell. "Thank you, Sasuke," she murmured, closing her eyes and feeling safe and secure with him just on the other side of the bed.

Instead of answering her with a verbal reply, Sasuke reached out a hand and began to gently stroke her hair, wondering at its silky softness. And since Naruto didn't seem to protest, he continued to do so until slumber reclaimed him and his hand, though now stilled, rested in her hair.


	11. Welcome Back Rock Lee!

**Summary:** AU Pickpocketing and stealing are the only things Naruto knows to survive in the busy streets of Konoha. But what happens when she stole a wallet from the wrong guy, namely Uchiha Sasuke? What does fate have in stored for these two? SasuFemNaru

**Pairings:** SasuFemNaru, LeeSaku, NejiTen, KibaHina, JirTsu, ShikaTema, ChouIno

**Warnings: **Language, Sexual terms, Violence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

* * *

**Thieving Gets You Nowhere**_  
by Aesura_

_**Welcome Back Rock Lee!**_

* * *

Shivering, Sasuke woke up to find all the blankets he had on his bed pulled to the side and wrapped around an unidentifiable lump on the far edge of his queen size bed. The small shock of blonde hair against his dark blue sheets and paler blue blankets triggered the memory of Naruto crawling into bed with him the night before. He could only assume that the lump was her.

The lump shifted and a leg was kicked out from beneath the blankets, revealing bare skin from her ankle all the way up to her thigh. His onyx eyes traced over the slender limb even as he struggled not to. A loud crack of thunder finally jarred him enough to pull his gaze from her to look out the rain-streaked window.

Rain fell from the darkened sky in sheets, making it impossible for Sasuke to see very far into the distance. A burst of white hot lightning in the black clouds illuminated the city for a moment before plunging it back into the dismal darkness. The low rumble of thunder that followed was enough to rattle the windows, making Sasuke glad that he had no plans for leaving the apartment today. It was one of those days that you simply spent lounging around the house, curling up with a blanket and a good book or movie.

With a soft groan and a yawn, Sasuke swung his legs off the bed and sat up, stretching somewhat before he stood up. Rubbing his eyes, he blindly stared at the small alarm clock at his bedside, willing the glaring red numbers to come into focus. Since the dark clouds managed to prevent any sunshine from reaching his window, he was unable to accurately judge the time by that like he normally would.

The red numbers finally came into focus, showing that it was well after ten and quickly nearing eleven, much later than he would normally sleep, Sunday or not. But, then again, he and Naruto had stayed up well into the morning watching movies the night before, so he felt somewhat justified for sleeping so late.

After slightly taming his hair, Sasuke began to leave the bedroom to start cooking breakfast, coming to the conclusion that Naruto would awaken when the smells of bacon and sausage frying assaulted her nostrils. But, just as he was at the door, a loud _THUNK_ met his ears and he spun around to find the lump on his bed now on the floor, blankets and pillows with it and unmoving.

Sighing as he ran a hand through his hair, Sasuke approached the lump and squatted to see if she had hit her head on the bedside table on her way down. A soft snore was his reply as he pulled the blanket away from her face. He noted that she burrowed even further down into the blankets, making a noise that sounded like something between a whimper and a grunt.

While Sasuke stayed there debating whether to leave her on the floor or pick her up and put her back on the bed, her indigo eyes fluttered open, blinking a few times to clear her vision. "Sasuke?" she mumbled, her brows furrowed as she looked around the room confusedly before she remembered climbing into bed with him the night before. But, now she wondered why she was on the floor and not the bed. "What am I doing on the floor?"

"A ghost kicked you out of the bed," he told her jokingly. "And how did you not wake up when you fell off?"

"I didn't get much sleep last night between the nightmares and your snoring," Naruto muttered, closing her eyes and running a hand through her tangled mess of hair. She sleepily rubbed her eyes, sitting up as she did so and leaned back against the mattress.

Raising an eyebrow, Sasuke regarded her with mock indignation as he rose to his feet, crossing his arms over his still bare chest. "I do not snore," he said with playful resentment while she simply stared at him and yawned.

"Sure, you don't. And pigs are flying past outside that window and demons are skating around on ice rinks and-" She would have continued on if it hadn't been for the flash of lightning and the rumble of thunder coming from the clouds outside, causing her to shudder and clench her eyes tightly shut in an attempt to block out the storm.

Sasuke watched the girl confusedly as she stopped mid-sentence and began to take deep breaths. "Naruto?" he called softly, squatting down next to her once more. When she didn't respond to her name, he dropped a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"It was raining..." she began, her eyes still closed and her breath coming in ragged gasps now as she tried not to cry. "It was raining when... when I was kicked out." Another shudder went through her body as she remembered the scene of the deranged drunken man. "The rain... the rain makes me remember."

Not knowing what else to do, Sasuke simply gave her shoulder another reassuring squeeze, causing her to turn her head and look up at him with a shaky smile. "Thanks, Sasuke," she whispered as she slowly brought her own hand up to cover his, thankful that he hadn't teased her about her dislike of the rain.

As much as he wanted to stay there on the floor with her, with her hand covering his, he knew he couldn't and he once more rose to his feet. "I'm going to go start breakfast," he told her, beginning to walk out of the room, but stopping in the doorway to turn and look at her again. "Anything in particular that you want?"

"Uh... just anything with a lot of sugar?" Naruto said questioningly, her head cocked to the side like a curious puppy as she stared at him. "French toast maybe?"

Sasuke nodded as he left the room, muttering something about Naruto's near constant intake of sugar rivaling that of a hummingbird's. How she managed to eat so much of it without making herself sick or sending herself into a diabetic coma was beyond his knowledge.

Climbing to her feet, Naruto looked around the room momentarily, catching her reflection in the mirror over his dresser and realizing that her hair was a lanky, snarled mess, before picking the blankets up off the floor and quickly making Sasuke's bed for him. It was her way of thanking him for letting her sleep in their with him. That, and she had made a twisted, tangled wad out of his blankets and sheets not only from falling off the bed and taking them with her, but also from hogging them all and enveloping herself into her self-made cocoon.

Finally getting the bed into some semblance of neatness, Naruto retreated from Sasuke's bedroom and into hers, quickly grabbing some clothes, a pair of blue jeans, an oversized sweatshirt, and her undergarments, before heading to the bathroom for a shower. She hoped she still had time before Sasuke finished making breakfast as she really didn't much care for cold French toast.

In the kitchen, Sasuke was in the middle of cutting thick slices of bread off the loaf of bread he had bought at a local bakery a few days before when there was a soft knock on the door.

Upon opening the door, he found Sakura dressed in a light pink sweater and a faded pair of blue jeans. Her brilliant green eyes widened incredibly when she saw what Sasuke was wearing. "Sasuke-kun! Don't tell me you're still going around in your underwear all day on Sundays?" she demanded, forcing her way into the apartment, like she was prone to do, and glaring at him.

"Uh... yeah. Why?" Sasuke asked confusedly, wondering why it really even mattered to Sakura. The sudden impact of her hand hitting him hard on the back of his head made him wince and rub the area. "And what was that for?"

Sakura let out a frustrated half growl, half scream as she scowled at him. "Sasuke-kun, you have a seventeen year old girl living in your apartment and _you're wandering around all day in your boxers?" _she hissed rather loudly, her face screwed up in annoyance. "Uchiha Sasuke, I thought you had better sense than that!"

Sasuke held up his hands in defeat, backing away a few feet from the pinkette in case she decided to hit him once more. "Okay, okay. You win, Sakura. My decency standards will go," he relented, starting down the hall to get dressed before she could yell at him anymore.

Naruto saw him pass by her bedroom door as she was coming out of it, having heard the whole conversation between him and Sakura. It was kind of hard not to when Sakura's voice had reached a whole new octave as she reprimanded the man. Naruto silently cursed the pinkette for ruining her Sunday eyeful of Sasuke shirtless as she made her way into the living room. "Thanks a lot, Sakura-chan," she grumbled as she strode to the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of orange juice.

"For what?" Sakura asked confusedly until she saw Naruto beginning to drink the juice directly from the carton and slapped herself on the forehead, already having forgotten her previous question. "Naruto, don't do that. It's disgusting!"

Quirking an eyebrow, Naruto rolled her eyes and pulled a glass down from the cabinet. "It's not like _you're_ going to be drinking any, Sakura-chan," she muttered as she poured herself a glass and put the carton back into the refrigerator. By now, Sasuke had wandered back into the kitchen, wearing navy pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt, a smirk on his face as he saw Naruto also being rebuked by the pinkette. Naruto stuck her tongue out at him.

"I assume you came over for some other reason than just to yell at us, Sakura," Sasuke prompted as he went back to preparing the French toast, cracking a few eggs into a bowl and beginning to beat them.

Shaking her head, Sakura sat on the stool at the counter and briefly rubbed her forehead. "I came to invite you two over for dinner tonight since Lee just returned last night," she announced cheerfully. "Sort of a 'Welcome Home' dinner."

Sasuke stopped what he was doing to turn around and look at her, a perplexed expression on his face. "I thought Lee wasn't coming back for another two weeks?"

"So did I, but he turned up waiting for me last night," Sakura explained, remembering the bouquet of flowers her boyfriend had given her. "Didn't Naruto tell you–" She broke off when she remembered that Naruto couldn't have told Sasuke since she hadn't actually been introduced to him. "Oh, Naruto, I'm sorry I was so rude last night. But, I hadn't seen him for _months_."

Laughing, Naruto came and sat next to the pinkette on the counter, ignoring the glare from Sasuke as she did so. He hated it when she sat on the counters. "Sakura-chan, it's okay. You probably had a lot of things to... catch up on..." she said, winking as she did so and remembering the way Sakura had attacked the man lips first.

"Speaking of which, where _is_ Lee?" Sasuke asked curiously.

"Uh... he's still sleeping. I would be, too, if Tsunade-sama had not needed me to write a few medical reports she'd forgotten… We didn't get much sleep last night," the pinkette admitted quietly, blushing slightly at the implication but fighting it back down when she remembered that she really had nothing to be embarrassed about. Her boyfriend had been gone for months and she had missed him. "Anyways, I'll see you two around seven?" she asked, heading towards the door but stopping to wait for their assent, which they readily gave. "It's only going to be the four of us. Lee still wants to surprise everyone back at the station, so don't tell anyone."

After she was gone, Sasuke turned to Naruto, his eyebrows raised. "So, Lee showed up last night?"

Eyes brightening considerably and a broad smile coming across her face, she told him about what happened the night before when her and Sakura came back to the apartment. She even told him how she thought, at first, that pinkette was attacking an innocent poet-reciting civilian. Naruto never even noticed that she had completely forgotten about the rain outside and all her memories associated with it.

* * *

Dinner that night at Lee's and Sakura's house was full of laughs as old friends were reunited and new friendships forged. At first, Naruto had been quiet and shy around Lee, not really knowing how she should act around him. That is, she was until she remembered him saying that pick-up line the night before when Sakura pounced him. And before she even thought about what she was doing, she had asked him if he made up that cheesy phrase.

Sputtering and blushing slightly, Lee quickly told her 'no.' It took a moment for the humor of the situation to sink in and then both Lee and Naruto burst out laughing. Embarrassing as it was, they soon both realized that it had actually made quite an efficient icebreaker.

After they had eaten the dinner Sakura had prepared, during which Naruto learned _why_ the pinkette rarely cooked as the chicken was overdone, the potatoes were underdone, and the rolls just _burnt_, the group had retreated to the living room where Lee pulled out some pictures from his trip. The first picture happened to be of a group of men lined up in a boat. Nothing extraordinary until Naruto noticed that their feet were sticking out of the bottom of the boat. "Are they... is that... are they trying to be the _Flintstones_?" she finally asked, blinking a few times as she took the picture and held it closer to her face, as though that would help it make more sense.

"No, it's a picture from the Todd River Regatta," Lee told her, laughing and leaning back on the sofa with his arm around Sakura's shoulders; she was leaning against his side and had an arm draped around his waist. "It's a boat race in Alice Springs, Australia except they have it on a dry river."

"Still looks like the _Flintstones _to me," Naruto mumbled, taking another look at the picture before she passed it on to Sasuke, who was seated in the chair next to her. "Don't you think so, teme?"

Lee looked back and forth between the two roommates for a moment, wondering if Sasuke was going to explode after being called '_teme'_. The expected rebuttal never came and Lee gave Sakura a confused look. She merely shrugged her shoulders.

"I thought you went to China, Lee?" Sasuke asked as he looked at the picture in his hands, silently agreeing with Naruto but not wanting to admit it out loud. "And, Naruto, I'm sure if you were to tell them," he gestured towards the men in the picture, "that you think they look like the _Flintstones_, they'd be insulted."

"And? What are they gonna do?" she questioned, raising her eyebrows and laughing a little. "Sic rabid kangaroos on me?"

Lee rummaged around in his pictures for a moment before producing another one and handing it to Naruto. "Nope, probably those," he said, pointing to the massive crocodile sunbathing on the bank of a nameless river. "And, Sasuke, I _was_ in China. But, a couple of friends of mine persuaded me to make a trip down to Australia, and I managed to catch the Todd River Regatta on my free weekend."

Naruto was still staring at the massive reptile in the photo, gulping loudly as her eyes drifted over to the open mouthful of teeth. "They... uh... really have those in the rivers down there?" she asked hesitantly, her cerulean eyes wide as she thought about coming face to face with one of those crocodiles.

"Yep," Lee replied, pulling out another picture and then blushing as he quickly tried to hide it behind the others. "How did that one get in there?" he muttered under his breath, ignoring Sakura's giggling as she had seen the picture as he tried to hide it.

"Ooh... what is it?" Naruto inquired excitedly, grabbing the picture from him with practiced ease. After all, she _had_ been a first rate pickpocket. At least, in her opinion she was. She looked at the picture and began laughing uncontrollably, bending over and clutching her stomach with one arm.

Sasuke looked over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of the picture, which proved futile as she was moving around so much while she laughed that he was unable to see it. He finally reached over and grabbed the picture with little protest from her. Blinking a few times, he looked back and forth between the picture and Lee before he found his voice. "Okay, Lee. What did you do?" he demanded. This photo was evidence of the fleeting stupidity Lee sometimes possessed.

"Look, before I flew back to Japan, I just happened to be in Pamplona during the Running of the Bulls," he began, trying in vain to grab the picture from Sasuke, but the Uchiha simply kept it out of his reach. "And some of the guys talked me into trying it."

"And a bull got you in the ass," Sasuke finished for him, smirking as he did so.

"IT'S MY UPPER THIGH!" Lee bellowed, making another lunge, and failing, for the picture.

Naruto stopped laughing long enough to take another peek at the picture Sasuke held. "It looks like your ass to me," she chimed in, beginning to giggle again. "I bet that hurt, too, didn't it? Like, you couldn't sit down for awhile, huh?"

Lee finally managed to take the picture away from Sasuke, but not before his dignity had been shattered. "Yeah, yeah... laugh all you want. At least I was brave enough to run with the bulls," Lee replied smugly.

"You mean stupid enough?" Sasuke said frankly.

Sakura, who had been fairly quiet the whole evening, simply holding onto Lee and leaning against him, finally decided to defuse the situation before the men's teasing turned into a friendly brawl which they were sometimes known to do. "Lee, did you bring home the chocolate like I asked you, too?" she questioned quietly, lifting her eyes to his.

"Of course I did," he whispered as he leaned down to chastely kiss her lips, not caring that Sasuke and Naruto were watching them. Slowly, he arose from the sofa and headed down the hall to their bedroom, emerging a few minutes later with box of chocolates in his hands. He handed them to Sakura as he sat back down next to her.

In turn, Sakura passed the item over to Naruto, smiling as she did so. "Here, Naruto. I had Lee get these for you while he was still in Europe," the pinkette said, settling back up against her husband and she fought back a yawn.

"Aw, you guys! You didn't have to–," Naruto began, only to be cut off by Lee.

"We _know_ we didn't have to, but we _wanted_ to," he told her, remembering the way his girlfriend had gushed about the teenager over the phone. She talked about her so much, that Lee felt like he knew her before he even really met her.

Conversation continued for a while longer until Sasuke kept noticing the yawns Sakura tried and failed to hide. It was then he spared a glance at the clock and realized it was well after eleven o'clock and both he and Naruto had to get up to go to work early the next morning. Not to mention the files he needed to look over that night as he had forgotten about them the day before. "Naruto, I think we need to go," Sasuke announced, rising from his chair as he did so.

"Do we _have _to?" Naruto pouted, enjoying herself more than she had in a very long while and really not wanting to leave. "Can't we just stay a little while longer?"

Not wanting to argue and seeing that both Sakura and Lee were growing tired (Lee had failed in suppressing a yawn as well), Sasuke did the only thing he could think of at the moment. He hoisted the girl into his arms and threw her over his shoulder, keeping one arm on her legs to keep her from falling. Giving Lee and Sakura their goodbyes, he ignored the protesting girl on his shoulder as she whined and complained about him carrying her around like a sack of potatoes.

However, once they were out of the two lovebird's house, Naruto quit complaining when she realized that being over his shoulder _did _have it's advantages. She had an unobstructed view of his ass from her position, which, she had to admit, was just as nicely made as the rest of him. So, she was greatly disappointed when he dropped her from his shoulder outside his car though she did a remarkable job of hiding her disappointment with an angry scowl during the drive back to the apartment.

* * *

"You didn't have to do that, you know?" she grumbled for what seemed like the umpteenth time, trudging into the apartment when he opened the door. "I would have left in a minute."

Sasuke didn't answer her for a moment, instead only raising his eyebrows and giving her a look that said he gravely disbelieved that. "Naruto, we both have to get up early and I still have to finish my paperwork..."

"Alright, alright," she muttered, hating that he was right, especially when she realized how sleepy she actually was. "And I guess I'll be going to bed then." She wandered down the hall, turning at her bedroom door to look back into living room and kitchen area to see Sasuke pulling out a briefcase that overflowed with a stack of papers when he opened it.

Hours later, Naruto awoke to a rumbling stomach and an insatiable craving for the chocolate chip cookies she knew Sasuke had bought a few days before. But, as she crawled out of her bed, she realized that the kitchen light was still on and was dimly shining through to her bedroom. Looking at her clock, she realized that it was around three in the morning and Sasuke should have been in bed hours ago.

So, creeping down the hallway and into the kitchen to see what was going on, Naruto found Sasuke asleep, slumped over the counter with his head resting on a stack of papers. She quietly approached him, stopping long enough to grab the cookies out of the cabinet and pour herself a glance of milk, and sat down next to him, carefully pulling the stack of papers out from under his head and stared down at the figures with furrowed brows. Running her finger down the long list of names and numbers lined up on the side of the page, she bit her lip in bewilderment and apprehension.

**Gaoka Arashi. . . . . . . . . . . . .2316  
Omoi Jirobo. . . . . . . . . . . . . .1451  
Tora Mizuki. . . . . . . . . . . . . .0347  
Kumo Kidomaru. . . . . . . . . . .0731  
Hone Kimimaro. . . . . . . . . . .0148  
Tsuchi Kin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1920**

What did these names mean? Naruto had no idea… A mumble jolted Naruto out of her snooping; she quickly held her breath and looked over at Sasuke. He was still asleep. Good. Oblivious of the dark photos buried underneath the papers, she quietly placed the files back into the briefcase along with the other documents and photos Sasuke had pulled out, then shut the briefcase with a soft click.

She then left and finally returned to her room to catch, hopefully, a few more hours of sleep before Sasuke would awaken her in the morning.


	12. A Woman's 'Time of the Month'

**Summary:** AU Pickpocketing and stealing are the only things Naruto knows to survive in the busy streets of Konoha. But what happens when she stole a wallet from the wrong guy, namely Uchiha Sasuke? What does fate have in stored for these two? SasuFemNaru

**Pairings:** SasuFemNaru, LeeSaku, NejiTen, KibaHina, JirTsu, ShikaTema, ChouIno

**Warnings: **Language, Sexual terms, Violence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

* * *

**Thieving Gets You Nowhere**_  
by Aesura_

_**A Woman's 'Time-of-the-Month'**_

* * *

It was becoming a regular routine for Sasuke to have to wake Naruto up, or _try_ to wake her up, every morning before work as she either never heard her alarm clock go off or she just incessantly hit the snooze button. He wasn't sure which it was. But, every morning from Monday through Friday (she still wasn't working on Saturdays) would play out in almost the same manner.

Sasuke would go in there and at first call her name, as though that would work even though it had never worked before. Then he would nudge her; usually, the only response to that would be a sleepy groan and her flipping over. At this point, depending on her mood, a pillow might come around and hit him. Finally, he would have to physically pull the blankets away from her to prevent her from hiding from both him and the overhead light. She would finally get up after that.

Today was going to be different though. Sasuke could tell it when he walked into the room even though there was nothing there to suggest that it would be. Everything looked perfectly normal. Naruto was lying in her usual tight, curled up ball, the myriad of blankets she slept with in the normal nest around her. He noticed that her alarm clock was propped up against the far wall, the red numbers blinking 12:00. Apparently, she _did_ hear the alarm clock go off and chucked it across the room in retaliation.

"Naruto," he called from the doorway, knowing from previous experience that it wouldn't work. "Naruto, come on. It's time to get up." Flipping the light switch on his way into the room, Sasuke blinked a moment to let his eyes readjust from the darkened room to the now light-flooded room. He reached her bedside and gently shook her shoulder. "Oi dobe, wake up!"

A tired cerulean eye opened and stared at him for a moment before closing again. "Sasuke, please, just let me sleep," Naruto moaned, not even rolling over like she normally did, but lying completely still. "Just go away and let me sleep."

"If you don't get up now, you won't have time for breakfast," Sasuke told her, knowing that had never failed to get her up once they had purchased some more sugary cereals for her to eat. He even backed up a little, thinking she would jump out of the bed at the mention of food, but she didn't. She simply lay there and stared at him.

"I'm not hungry," she whispered in a soft voice, curling herself up into an even tighter ball if that were possible. "I... I don't feel that well this morning and I don't think I can go to work today. So, please, I'm begging you, just let me go back to sleep." The uncharacteristic pleading tone of her voice normally would have made her ashamed, but not today.

Worry causing his brows to furrow, Sasuke knelt down beside the bed to get a closer look at her face, just now noticing how pale she was, paler than normal even. "You don't look so good," he murmured, reaching out a hand to place on her forehead to check for a fever, but not finding one.

"Gee, thanks for noticing," Naruto grumbled sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she did so and prying his hand off her brow. "Now, will you _please_ just leave me alone?"

"You don't have a fever," Sasuke muttered quietly under his breath, more to himself than to her, and continued to stare intently at her. He didn't like the paleness of her complexion; it worried him. To him, she looked worse than she had when he first brought her to his apartment. "Maybe we should get you to a doctor..."

Shaking her head, she momentarily closed her eyes and winced slightly in obvious pain, hissing sharply at the same time. "I'll be okay, Sasuke. Just..." she trailed off for a moment and clenched her eyes shut and pulled the blanket around herself tighter. "Just go to work and don't worry about me."

At her second sharp intake of breath in just the past few moments, Sasuke reached over and started to pull the blanket away from her. "Come on, Naruto. It's not normal to be in this much pain with a cold or virus. You might have an appendicitis or some–" He broke off when she refused to let the blanket go, gripping it so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

"Sasuke, I will be okay. I'll be fine," Naruto insisted, trying to keep a firm grip on the blanket, but another wave of pain made her loosen it just enough for Sasuke to pull it away. Before she could stop him, he started to pick her up despite her protests and feeble kicks. "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking you to the hospital before you appendix or whatever–"

Taking a deep breath and rubbing her forehead, Naruto interrupted him before he could continue on with his rant of what might be wrong with her. "_I have menstrual cramps, teme! You happy now? Or do you want a full medical examination_?_" _she hissed, a crimson blush creeping up onto her cheeks. She really hadn't wanted to tell him what was wrong with her, but he just kept pushing the issue until she burst.

While Naruto's face were turning red, Sasuke's was quickly losing it's color and his arms went lax, causing him to drop her back onto the bed. Luckily, it wasn't a very far drop and she simply glared at him when she landed. "Oh... uh... um... do y-you need anything?" he stuttered slowly, desperately hoping she wouldn't send him down to the drugstore for anything embarrassing.

If she hadn't been in so much pain from the cramps, she would have laughed at the expression on his face. Instead, she just gave him a half-hearted smile and curled back up into her protective ball and pulled the blankets around her. "No," she whispered, shaking her head as she did so. "Just go to the police station and don't worry about me. I'll be okay."

Sasuke slowly walked out the door, straight down the hallway, through the living room, and out the front door without even stopping for his morning cup of coffee. Before he even knew what he was doing, he found himself at Lee and Sakura's place, knocking on their door. The pinkette hurriedly opened the door and let Sasuke inside before rushing back into the kitchen to check on her breakfast. "What are you doing here so early, Sasuke-kun?" she asked as she spread the cream cheese on her bagel.

"Naruto has cramps," he sighed, running a hand through his hair before he rubbed it down his face. It paused at his eyes to rub them before pinching the bridge of his nose. "Tell me _again_ why I decided to let a teenage _girl_ live with me?"

"Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun," Sakura muttered, shaking her head as she bit into her bagel. "It's just _cramps_. Every woman gets them. I get them, Naruto gets them, every woman gets them," she repeated firmly as she left him in the living room and headed down the hall to the bathroom for something.

A very rumpled looking Lee emerged from the bedroom across the hall and started towards the living room. "What are you doing here, Sasuke?" Lee yawned as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

Sakura didn't give the Uchiha time to answer the question before her dulcet voice floated from the bathroom, where she was rummaging around the medicine cabinet, and answered it herself. "Naruto has cramps and Sasuke-kun doesn't know what to do about it," she called, a hint of humor in her voice.

"Run away, Sasuke, run far away," Lee said in a conspiratorial whisper, leaning across the counter to make himself better heard to Sasuke, but hopefully not his girlfriend. It didn't work. She started up the hallway just a few seconds after he had passed that information along with a scowl on her face.

"Give these to Naruto," she muttered distractedly as she tried to push a bottle of Midol and a box of pads into his hands. Actually, she had no trouble making him hold the pills. It was the box of pads he seemed reluctant to take from her grasp. " Sasuke-kun, they are pads. They're not going to bite you."

She was turning to face Lee, her mouth open to reprimand him for his comment, when Sasuke interrupted her. "Can't _you_ take them over to her?" he practically begged, as he looked down at the items in his hands.

"SASUKE-KUN, you are eighteen years old! Grow up!" the pinkette growled, turning the Uchiha around and pushing him towards the door. "And, no, I can't take them over there because I have to get down to the hospital for my shift after I deal with Lee."

Before he realized it, Sasuke was out the door.

* * *

Sasuke quickly got back to the apartment and opened the door and hurried inside before anyone could see him in the hallway; he really didn't want anyone to see what he was holding.

Upon entering the apartment, he noticed Naruto leaning over the kitchen sink, with one hand around her stomach, out of the corner of his eye. Hearing the front door click close, she turned to stare curiously at him, her eyes falling to the items in his hands. That's when Sasuke noticed a few tears on her cheeks and more welling up behind her eyes. "Hey," he murmured, setting the stuff down on the counter. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. It just... _hurts_," Naruto whimpered, clutching her lower abdomen with both hands and slowly shuffling into the living room. She grabbed the bottle of Midol on the way and read the back label after sitting down on the couch before pouring two of the pills into the palm of her hand and tossing them down her throat, swallowing them dry.

"You shouldn't take medicine on an empty stomach. It'll make you sick," Sasuke warned as watched her take the pills. She simply glared at him as she lay herself down on the sofa and drew her knees to her chest, pulling the blanket she must have brought from her room around herself as she did so.

"Well, I don't feel too well right now. And I don't see how it can get much worse than it already is," she snapped irritably as she grabbed the remote control and turned the TV on, flipping aimlessly through the channels until she found some old movie from the eighties playing. Really, she had no interest in the movie, but wanted something to _try_ and take her mind off the cramps in her abdomen.

He finally shrugged and wandered back into the kitchen, eyeing the box of pads Sakura had given him warily. The idea of them just setting on the counter in plain view unsettled him and he carefully picked them up, as though they would hurt him, and carried them to the bathroom. It was at this moment he was exceptionally glad he had his own bathroom in his bedroom. "There are some things not meant for male eyes," he muttered to himself as he set the box of pads down on the counter next to the sink.

After going back into the front half of the apartment, Sasuke sat on a stool at the island counter in his kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee while he read the paper. He had been sitting there for just a little over half an hour and was just preparing to leave the apartment to head to the police station when his eyes caught Naruto lurching to her feet and rushing down the hall to the bathroom. What followed was a series of gags and choked coughs as she retched the few contents of her stomach into the toilet.

A few minutes later, she weakly stumbled out of the bathroom, hobbled back to the couch, and gingerly lay back down, a few whimpers escaping her throat as she did so. Sasuke rose from his stool and walked over to her, kneeling at the end of the couch and trying to keep his hands from brushing the hair out of her face. "I–," he started, only to be interrupted by Naruto.

"I don't want to hear," she snarled tiredly, assuming he was going to say _I told you so_ like most other people would. Or, at least, like the people she had known before. "You were right. You win. Now just leave me alone."

"I was _going _to ask if you wanted me to cook you anything for breakfast," Sasuke explained slowly, wearily rubbing his eyes and shaking his head.

"Oh," Naruto said simply, her tone slightly apologetic for her snappish nature. "I... uh... aren't you going to work?" A look at the clock showed her it was nearly past time for him to be going, yet he was still here and offering to cook for her.

Sighing, Sasuke rose to his feet and looked at the clock himself. He hadn't really realized it was so late until now. But, if he were to leave her like this, alone all day in the apartment, he would never forgive himself. "No. I have stuff I can do here today or over the phone," he finally replied, already picking the phone up off the base to give his second-in-command, Kakashi, a call. "Is there anything you want to eat?" he asked as he called Kakashi, hoping the older man will pick up.

Naruto waited until he was through with his phone call before she answered him, thinking about his actions the whole time. He confused her to no end. Sometimes, he could be as cold as the icy wind that cut through your coat and nipped at your skin, like he was when he had left the kimono competition only a few days ago. Other times, he was so sweet and caring that it made her almost want to melt, like he was right now and when they had watched scary movies together. He was such an enigma–

"Naruto!" Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as Sasuke stared down at her, the phone placed on its base once more and him waiting for her answer about breakfast. He wondered briefly if she was okay, considering the way she had almost completely zoned out for the brief amount of time he was on the phone. "Breakfast?" he prodded.

"Uh... just some toast," she muttered distractedly when she snapped back into reality. For that brief span of time that she had been lost in thought, the cramps didn't feel nearly as bad as they did now. And, truth be told, she really didn't feel like eating _anything_ but would force something down just so she could keep the Midol she so desperately wanted down.

The rest of the morning passed rather calmly; Sasuke managed to make Naruto eat two pieces of toast and she immediately took another two Midol down with that, which helped to ease, but not stop completely, her cramps for a couple hours. He then learned very quickly why Lee had advised him to run earlier that morning.

Since he had the spare time, Sasuke had decided that he would spend a few hours going over some reports from the autopsies. But, as he scrolled down the screen, he absentmindedly began drumming his fingers upon the table, tapping out a random tune without really thinking about it. He was nearly through with his improvisation when he looked up and saw a pair of venomous cerulean eyes glaring down at him as Naruto stood in front of him.

"What?" he asked confusedly as he tried to decipher _why_ she was glowering at him like that. As far as _he_ knew, he had done _nothing _wrong. However, looking into her eyes, he realized that he must have done something.

"I was asleep," she growled lowly, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits as she scowled at him. "It doesn't hurt when I'm asleep." A glimpse of the still perplexed expression on his face would have clued most people into the fact that he had no idea what she was talking about. She decided to elaborate for him. "I was asleep, that is, until you decided to perform a concert over here by _banging _your fists on the table!"

Now Sasuke was really confused. First of all, he had only been tapping his finger lightly upon the wood. Secondly, it didn't sound that loud to him and he was right there were the noise was. And, finally, he wanted to know how in the world the light tapping of his fingers on the surface of the table had managed to wake the teenager up when the loud, annoying buzz of her alarm clock was unable to most days of the week. "I–," he started, but stopped when he saw her nearly double over in pain, her arm clutching weakly at her stomach.

"Dammit," she hissed loudly, trying to make her way back over to the couch. Apparently, the small effect the Midol had upon her was quickly wearing off. She was taking tiny baby steps across the room as the bigger steps made the cramps worse when strong arms picked her up and carried her the rest of the way.

Sasuke carefully set her down on the couch and quickly picked up the phone, dialing the number for Sakura's cell phone. "I don't know much about this, but I really don't think that normal," he muttered to Naruto as he impatiently waited for the green-eyed pinkette to pick up the phone.

Naruto just lay there curled up in a ball once more, only half listening to his one-sided conversation with Sakura. But, when he snapped his fingers in front of her face, she began to pay attention once more. "What?" she whispered hoarsely, trying not to cry _again_, but it just hurt so much.

"Sakura wants to know if it's normal for your cramps to be this bad," Sasuke demanded, holding a hand over the mouthpiece of the telephone. At Naruto's nod, he relayed the answer back to the pinkette, then paled as she apparently asked another question. "Uh... she also wants to know how heavy the... uh... blood flow is."

Groaning, Naruto buried her face in her hands, just as embarrassed as Sasuke, if not more so. This was something _really_ she did not want to discuss with him, even if he was only asking because of Sakura. "Heavy," came the reluctant and muffled reply from her hands.

After relaying that answer to the pinkette as well, Sasuke talked to her for a few more minutes before finally hanging up. "She's... uh..." He paused for a moment and gulped. "She says she's setting you up an appointment with her mentor; she's a licensed gynecologist," he finally managed to get out, saying it all in a rush.

"Great," Naruto muttered sarcastically, rolling her eyes and sighing loudly. She shifted to get herself in a more comfortable position and managed to fall back asleep.

Sasuke, having learned his lesson from earlier, made sure he was perfectly quiet while she was asleep, hardly even daring to move.

* * *

Just a little over a week later, Sasuke found himself sitting in the waiting room of the gynecologist's office, imagining ways to pay Sakura back for this. After she had made the appointment for Naruto, the pinkette had _promised_ to take the teenager herself and save Sasuke the embarrassment. But, that morning, Lee had somehow managed to twist his ankle and Sakura _insisted _that her boyfriend would need her assistance. A low growl escaped Sasuke's throat as he decided that perhaps it was _Lee_ he should be mad at.

A few minutes ago, Naruto had been nervously fidgeting in the chair beside him while she filled out the forms the receptionist had given her. But now, Sasuke was alone in a waiting room full of women, young and old alike. And he felt extremely self-conscious as he waited for Naruto to return so he could leave. It was bad enough having all those women stare at him when he had walked through the door with Naruto. But, at least then, he had known someone in the room. Of course, I might have been worse if he _had_ known one of the other women in the waiting room.

Sighing and running a hand through his locks of hair, Sasuke rose to his feet and headed towards the exit, asking the receptionist to tell Naruto where he was when she came out. Once out of the room, he took a deep breath to help sooth his frazzled nerves. He had never thought he was one to _get_ frazzled nerves until the week before.

For three days that week, Naruto's cramps had been bad enough that he refused to leave her alone in the apartment. And in those three days, he had learned about a woman's menstrual cycle than he would _ever_ want to know. He had also found enough things in the bathroom to make him regret not taking the extra few steps to go to the bathroom in his bedroom. Unfortunately, what he had found was enough to make him wonder how a woman of her diminutive size could produce that much menstrual blood.

He didn't ponder that thought long, immediately pushing it out of his head as soon as it came to mind. Frankly, it terrified him.

Sasuke didn't know how long he was pacing around outside the medical office when Naruto peeked her head out the doorway. "Uh... Sasuke?" she called softly, looking down at the ground rather than his face. "I kinda forgot my wallet at home and need you to pay for this... I can pay you back when we get home. I have the money."

Pinching the bridge of his nose and not wanting to go back in there, Sasuke reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, tossing it to her in the process. "Just take that and pay for it," he muttered, watching her as she stared at the wallet in shock.

"Um... Okay," Naruto said confusedly, surprised that he was actually trusting _her _with the very wallet she had stolen from him a little over a month ago. "Are you sure?" She had to make sure; she didn't want to be accused later of stealing anything from him.

"Yes, I am _not_ going back in there," he stated firmly and leaving no room for argument. He watched her meekly step back inside the office before he softly murmured the rest of his statement. "Besides, I trust you."

A few minutes later, Naruto reemerged from the office and they silently exited the hospital and started walking towards his car. The drive back to the apartment appeared that it was going to be as equally silent as the walk to the car, even with Naruto flipping through the radio stations in an attempt to find something they _both_ liked.

Finally finding the silence to be unbearable, Sasuke decided it was time to end it. "Well, that was embarrassing," he muttered, not noticing that Naruto had turned her head to face him and staring at him. "I've never been so embarrassed in my life," he continued, still oblivious to her facial expression.

"You were embarrassed?" she asked incredulously, her stare quickly becoming a glare. "_You _were embarrassed? How do you think I feel?" Shrilly, her voice raised a few octaves and she didn't even realize what she was saying until it was too late. "At least you weren't the one lying on a table in a _porno position_!"

Considering the way his thoughts towards the teenager had been going the past couple of weeks, that was the _last _thing he needed to hear from her and he temporarily lost control of his car, nearly driving it up a telephone pole. He parked his car there for a minute and rested his forehead against the steering wheel while Naruto continued to glare at him. "Naruto," he finally muttered, "just shut up."

Hurt, Naruto shut her mouth with a snap and turned to look out her window, just watching all the people walk down the sidewalk. She felt the car slowly start back up again and Sasuke pulled back into the traffic, but she refused to look at him. "Stop at the drugstore," Naruto whispered as she remembered the prescription for birth control pills the doctor had given her, telling her that they would help with the cramps.

Sighing, Sasuke silently did as he was told and waited in the car for her as she dropped her prescription off. He hadn't meant to sound so cruel when he told her to shut up, but with the way his mind was working these days, he _really_ didn't need to hear anymore about her doctor's appointment. Naruto returned to the car a few minutes later and they drove the rest of the way in silence.

* * *

It was around midnight that night when Sasuke gave up on trying to sleep and gave into the urge to get something to drink. He and Naruto had hardly spoken to each other since they had returned from her doctor's appointment and it was making it hard for him to sleep. He didn't like having her mad at him; the reason _why_ it bothered him so much not even coming to mind. His feelings towards her confused him and he didn't even bother trying to sort them out; it would only confuse him more.

He soon found himself in the dark kitchen, rummaging around the refrigerator looking for the carton of milk he knew was _supposed _to be in there, but not finding it. That was when he heard a voice from behind him. "I have insomnia, but what's your excuse?"

In his surprise, Sasuke jumped at the sound of Naruto's voice and bumped his head on the top shelf of the refrigerator. Hissing in pain, he clutched the top of his head and turned around to find her sitting on the opposite counter, eating ice cream directly out of the tub with the milk he had been searching for sitting next to her. "That hurt," he muttered, trying not to curse as he had been getting onto her about language since she had moved in with him.

"Want me to kiss it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and digging into the tub for another bite of ice cream.

Sasuke was a mere inch away from telling her 'please do,' but managed to stop the words before they came out of his mouth. "Get your ass off my clean counter," he instead reprimanded, trying to get his thoughts into some semblance of control. He watched her slid off, inwardly wincing when he noticed her nightshirt, still one of his dress shirts, rode up slightly and revealed her upper legs. He really didn't need that right now.

"Sheesh, teme. It's not like I'm naked or anything," Naruto muttered in annoyance, walking over to sit on one of the stools at the island since he seemed to have issues about his counter tops.

Before he could reign in his thoughts, his mind flew to what she had said earlier in reference to her doctor's appointment: '_You weren't the one lying on a table in a porno position.'_ No, that thought really wasn't helping matters. In fact, he dropped the glass he had just pulled out of the cabinet and watched as it fell to the floor and shattered into a thousand pieces. Sighing, he grabbed the broom he had stored in the nearby pantry and began sweeping the pieces up as Naruto stood there and watched him.

"Smooth move, teme," she teased as she took another bite of the ice cream, savoring the taste. It was her favorite flavor, something called _Chocolate Truffle Explosion_ that had bits of chocolate truffles mixed in with the chocolate ice cream and rivers of fudge running through it as well. All in all, it was literally a chocolate explosion.

"Put that in a bowl," Sasuke grumbled as he handed her a bowl from the cabinet when he reached in to get himself another glass. He glared at her when she simply set the whole tub of ice cream into the bowl and continued to eat out of the tub. "Nice, dobe. Real nice. I'm sure that's on Sakura's list along with drinking orange juice out of the carton."

Smirking, Naruto pointed to his current state of attire: nothing but his boxers. "And I'm sure Sakura-chan would just _love_ to know that you're corrupting me by walking around like that," she threatened as she defiantly dug into the tub once more for another bite.

Sasuke sighed and massaged his temples as he sat down on the stool opposite hers. "I won't tell if you won't tell," he finally stated as he pulled out a spoon from the nearby drawer and stole a bite of her ice cream.

Naruto raised her eyebrows and stared at him for a moment before deciding whether or not she should go along with his deal. "Fine, it's a deal," she agreed, sticking her hand out for him to shake and make the agreement final. It took him a moment, but he eventually did take her hand and shake it. "So, anyways, since you're up, I might as well ask you."

"Ask me what?" Sasuke prodded as he waited for her to continue, but she simply took another bite of ice cream and waited for it to melt in her mouth before she would continue.

"I've just been wondering what you had been planning on doing before you inherited the Uchiha Military Police Corps," she said softly, half afraid he would get mad at her. She never knew what he was going to do from one moment to the next.

Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair, closing his stormy obsidian eyes in the process. "I'm not really sure. I hadn't picked out a major yet when it happened, but I think I might have gone into law school," he said after a few moments. "And if I had, I might have just _owned_ my share of the police station and not really work there. So, I guess I'm glad that I did inherit it because I love working there. It just... it reminds me of _home_."

Nodding, Naruto pushed the tub of ice cream closer to him when she saw him reaching over for another bite. "That sounds so cool," she told him, unable to hide the little bit of jealousy in her voice. They ate the ice cream for another few minutes in companionable silence before Sasuke broke it. "So, did you ever liked it there in the orphanage in the first place?" he asked quietly, his eyes finding hers and holding her gaze.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess at one point I did since I don't remember hating them until I learned how to walk and talk," Naruto admitted slowly, "but it's probably because the CSA would've had their asses on a patter if they founded out they were neglecting a '_poor innocent infant_,'" she finished off with a touch of resentment at her foster caretakers. "It just seemed like none of them really liked me. I mean, I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with, but give me a break. I was only a baby when the courts shoved me off onto the first available orphanage, and _they _made every sorry excuse in the book so they could dump me in some other orphanage, claiming I was too _emotional_ and all that shit." She sighed loudly here, pushing the ice cream away from her completely and dropping her chin to rest on her arms, which were setting atop the counter and crossed. "_I had no family, for crying out loud! Of course I was emotional!"_

"Naruto, you don't have to–." He started to tell her that she didn't have to tell him anymore, but she kept going as though she hadn't heard him.

"And then their next excuse was _"She's too hyperactive."_ Then _"She's too annoying_,_"_ then too depressing. _I was always too something!_" she hissed, holding back the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes. After a few moments, she composed herself and sat back up. "So, they finally just had enough and kicked me out. I sold almost everything I owned just to get a bit to eat." She sighed sadly and shook her head. "I was a delusional four year old thinking I could find a way to support myself. Well," she scoffed, "better than those bastards back at the orphanage. And, well... look how that turned out."

"You told me before you don't regret it," Sasuke whispered, watching as she pushed back any tears that remained behind her eyes. But, both the tears and the tone of her voice told him that she did regret it.

Shaking her head, Naruto stood up from her seat and carried the half-melted ice cream back to the freezer. "The only thing I regret is that when I realized there was no way I could support myself, I pawned my necklace," she whispered, taking a deep breath and keeping her back to Sasuke. "It wasn't anything fancy, just a little crystal pendant with two little bells hanging from the side of it, but it was the only thing I had of my family." Naruto started to walk out of the kitchen, but stopped and paused for a minute at the entrance to the hallway. "I kept telling myself that I would find some money and get it back, but it never happened."

Sasuke watched her as she left him alone in the kitchen, wondering how someone who seemed so happy most of the time could be so depressed deep down inside. It amazed him that she was able to keep this side of herself so carefully hidden behind that happy-go-lucky facade. He also realized that he seemed to be the only person she had ever shared this with.


End file.
